Understanding the role of lady health workers in improving access to eye health services in KhyberPakhtunkhwa (KPK) Province of Pakistan

Summary

Between April and June 2019, we conducted a qualitative study in KPK. We captured a range of experiences and opinions from a diverse group of 73 participants that included patients, LHWs and their supervisors, district managers and other stakeholders across two different sites through eight focus group discussions and nine in-depth interviews.

Results from this study have shown that the training of community health workers in eye care was well received. However, training alone is not enough and does not result in improved access for patients to specialist services if other parts of the health system are not strengthened.