Acceptability and Feasibility of Provision of COVID-19 Services by Community Health Workers to Remote Gold Mining Communities in Suriname.

Abstract

Gold mining communities in the Amazon region typically have limited access to public health services. In Suriname, the Ministry of Health Malaria Program (MoH-MP) works with community health workers (CHWs), people from mining communities without a formal medical degree, to provide malaria diagnostic and treatment services. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the MoH-MP trained 21 of these CHWs in COVID-19 outreach and testing, using rapid antigen tests for symptomatic persons in their communities; afterward, a mixed methods research approach was used to investigate whether including COVID-19 services in the tasks of the CHWs was feasible and accepted among gold mining populations. Also, CHWs took part in active case detection missions to proactively offer COVID-19 testing to all inhabitants of specific mining areas, regardless of symptoms. In the 6 months of field implementation (May-October 2022), 1,300 persons were tested for COVID-19, among whom 28.7% were women. Eight percent tested positive. Of the 312 asymptomatic persons tested, 2.2% tested positive. Qualitative semi-structured interviews with the CHWs and quantitative pre- and postintervention surveys revealed that the communities appreciated the nearby and free COVID-19 testing opportunity. The intervention motivated individuals who otherwise would not have been tested to test for COVID-19. Twenty-nine percent of those who had tested at least once for COVID-19 reported that their most recent test was conducted through the services of the CHWs. The results suggest that integrating COVID-19 testing into other CHW services can lower health access barriers in difficult-to-reach populations in remote communities.