TY  - SER
AU  - Gatuguta, Anne
AU  - Katusiime, Barbara 
AU  - Seeley, Janet
AU  - Colombini, Manuela
AU  - Mwanzo, Isaac 
AU  - Devries, Karen.
TI  - Should community health workers offer support healthcare services to survivors of sexual violence? : A systematic review
PY  - 2017///
PB  - BMC
KW  - ADULT SURVIVORS OF SEXUAL ABUSE
KW  - ADVOCACY
KW  - COMMUNITY SERVICES
KW  - COUNSELLING
KW  - HEALTH SERVICES
KW  - INTERVENTION
KW  - PREVENTION
KW  - SEXUAL VIOLENCE
KW  - SUPPORT SERVICES
KW  - SYSTEMATIC REVIEWS
KW  - VICTIMS OF SEXUAL VIOLENCE
KW  - INTERNATIONAL
KW  - BURMA
KW  - DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
KW  - ISRAEL
KW  - SCOTLAND
KW  - UNITED KINGDOM
KW  - UNITED STATES
N1  - BMC International Health and Human Rights, 2017, 17: 28
N2  - Quantitative and qualitative studies reporting on CHWs and other community-level paraprofessional volunteer services for sexual violence were eligible for inclusion. CHWs and sexual violence were defined according to WHO criteria. The review was conducted according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. Quality of included studies was assessed using two quality assessment tools for quantitative, and, the methodology checklist by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence for qualitative studies. Data were extracted and analysed separately for quantitative and qualitative studies and results integrated using a framework approach.

Results: 
Seven studies conducted in six countries (Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Burma, United States of America, Scotland, Israel) met the inclusion criteria. Different models of care had diverse CHWs roles including awareness creation, identifying, educating and building relationships with survivors, psychosocial support and follow up. Although sociocultural factors may influence CHWs’ performance and willingness of survivors to use their services, studies often did not report on CHWs characteristics. Few studies assessed acceptability of CHWs’ to survivors or feasibility of delivery of services. However, participants mentioned a range of benefits including decreased incidence of violence, CHWs being trusted, approachable, non-judgmental and compassionate. Challenges identified were high workload, confidentiality issues and community norms influencing performance.

Conclusions: 
There is a dearth of research on CHWs services for sexual violence. Findings suggest that involving CHWs may be beneficial, but potential challenges and harms related to CHW-provided services exist. No different models of CHW-provided care have been robustly evaluated for effects on patient outcomes. Further research to establish survivors’ views on these services, and, their effectiveness is desperately needed. (Authors' abstract).  Record #6306
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1186/s12914-017-0137-z
ER  -