The success of community health programs, particularly those based on volunteers, are often threatened by high rates of volunteer drop out and inconsistent performance. For organizations like CARE, who champion dignified work and raise-awareness around unpaid work being a barrier to women’s empowerment, asking some of the poorest communities to simply volunteer their time is difficult to do.
Financial incentives have been found to be one of the most important factors associated with improving retention and performance in urban slums, but lack of financial rewards remains a substantial challenge to implementation and success of community health worker (CHW) programs. Social enterprise is one method many in the development community are now looking at to solve this lack of financial motivation.
Watch this video from CARE UK CEO Laurie Lee’s visit to the CARE social enterprise Live Well in Zambia; read more of his story and learn how Live Well is empowering community health workers (CHWs) through entrepreneurship.