Community health worker interventions for healthy ageing in community for older people in the United States and globally: a scoping review

Thesis

Background and objectives: Healthy ageing allows older people to experience well-being; community health workers (CHW) may have a role in supporting healthy ageing in community. Understanding what is known, and where gaps in knowledge exist, is important for advancing research on this topic.

Methods: A scoping review was undertaken to explore the question - What community health worker interventions in any community setting (urban, suburban, and rural) with a focus on older people’s (adults over age 65) well-being have been evaluated globally that include information about health outcomes, healthy equity, social connection, or health and social care service delivery? Six databases (PubMed, Cochrane, Policy Commons, CINAHL, ASSIA, Embase, Global Index Medicus) and grey literature were searched for relevant sources. References were screened by two researchers to identify if they met inclusion criteria. Data were summarised as narratives, figures, and in tables.

Results: Thirteen papers met criteria for inclusion; eleven were primary studies with varied research designs and disparate diseases, conditions, and health and social needs studied. Ten of the studies were conducted in high-income countries worldwide with varied activities and assessments performed. Results suggest CHWs may have capacity to support healthy ageing in community for older people.

Conclusion: CHWs represent a promising practice for supporting healthy ageing. The review identified several potential roles for CHWs, and the evidence available may provide guidance on where CHWs can facilitate and promote healthy ageing in the community – and enable older people to not only meet their basic daily needs but also contribute to their communities. The author did not perform quality assessments on included papers so the credibility and reliability of the findings is unknown. Further, the overall findings were developed on domains where an effect was reported but did not establish where an effect was not observed.

Authors: Schmidt, S

• DOI: 10.5287/ora-yemyp09pm
• Type of award: MSc
• Awarding institution: University of Oxford
• Language: English
• Keywords: community health workers; health equity; healthy ageing; older adults; older people; social connection