CAPACITY STRENGTHENING TOOL

The Care Group Difference: A Guide to Mobilizing Community-Based Volunteer Health Educators

A Care Group is a group of 10 to 15 volunteer community-based health educators who regularly meet together with project staff for training, supervision and support. Care Groups are distinguished by the on-going relationships within the Care Group as well as each volunteer’s responsibility to teach individual households outside of the meeting, thus multiplying training. Volunteers belonging to Care Groups provide greater peer support, develop stronger commitment to health activities and find more creative solutions to challenges by working as a group compared to individual volunteers expected to work independently.

This guide explores the evidence base for the Care Group model, offers criteria to assist project managers in determining the feasibility of using this approach within their own programs, and provides a step-by-step guide for starting and sustaining Care Groups. It includes the following sections: Introduction to Care Groups, Deciding When to Use Care Groups, Getting Ready, Working with Care Groups, Monitoring and Evaluation, Links to Communities and Health Services, and Sustainability.

Last modified: July 23, 2021

Language: English

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