COMMUNITY HEALTH WORKER TRAINING IN THE OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES: A PROGRAM REFLECTION

ABSTRACT There exist many challenges concerning public health practices in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (oPt) as the Israeli occupation has created literal and metaphorical roadblocks preventing Palestinians from accessing needed health services outside their towns and villages. Trained Community Health Workers assist in bridging this crucial health service need throughout the oPt. This qualitative study evaluates the Palestinian Medical Relief Society’s (PMRS) Community Health Worker Program (CHWP) in the West Bank of occupied Palestine. The research explores three facets of Community Health Worker (CHW) training and their roles in Palestinian society. The first question addresses the CHWP training goals, curriculum, and professional scope. The second question seeks to determine if these current goals, curriculum, and professional scope effectively serve the West Bank community. The last inquiry evaluates PMRS’s CHWP curriculum, identifying strengths, weaknesses, and possible areas for improvement to meet its students' and community’s ever-changing needs. Through semi-structured interviews rooted in a transformative paradigm, PMRS’s CHWs and instructors offer insights addressing the overall program, its goals, community efficacy, and growth areas. The research findings detail a rigorous, accredited, highly regarded CHW program blending traditional Western CHW responsibilities with ambulatory nursing skills necessary to treat an embattled and occupied civilian population lacking healthcare access. The CHW Diploma and profession offers Palestinian women from rural villages and refugee camps opportunities for a respectable career benefiting themselves, their families, and their community. Future research may explore how this expanded scope of practice for CHWs may benefit refugee communities outside of Palestine. Keywords: Community health workers, community health worker programs, healthcare in Palestine, public health in Palestine, Palestine, West Bank of Palestine, healthcare in the Middle East, refugee health