COVID-19 household screening: Experiences of community health care workers in South Africa

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Community Healthcare Workers (CHWs) in South Africa were integral to healthcare teams conducting household COVID-19 screenings in their communities. This study employed a qualitative, exploratory-descriptive research design to investigate CHWs' experiences during these household screenings. The study population included all CHWs deployed by primary healthcare facilities in the Vhembe District. Purposive sampling was employed to select both participants and two primary healthcare facilities located in Thulamela Municipality. Data collection involved face-to-face, in-depth, unstructured interviews, which continued until data saturation was reached after interviewing 17 participants. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data, resulting in the emergence of several main themes: Namely, denial of access to households by community members, fear of infection, safety and security concerns, withholding of information, and withdrawal from the screening process. These findings highlight the need for further training of community healthcare workers and the communities on dealing with future health crises, such as pandemic infectious diseases, making this research significant and relevant.