Do quality improvement teams contribute to the improvement of community Health Workers' performance in Benin?

Community Health Workers (CHWs) were promoted in Benin to improve maternal and child health care (MCH). To improve community health workers' performance, a Quality Improvement Team (QIT) was set up to reinforce CHW capacities. The objective of this work is to present an assessment of QIT's contribution to CHW's performance and MCH coverage in the municipality of Savè. The design of the study includes a pre- and post- analysis. Data were extracted from CHWs' activity reports and routine health information systems from 2011 to 2014 in 22 health facilities. Individual in-depth interviews were also performed with some key informants. The performance of CHW and the MCH indicators were determined according to the National Community Health Policy. The QIT improved Community Health Workers' performance and maternal and child health indicators in Savè. Educational sessions, skilled delivery care coverage, percentage of newborn seen over twice a week, percentage of children treated according national standards, percentage of children fully immunized, percentage of women using family planning methods were increased. The establishment of QIT improved CHW's performance and the use of maternal and child health services in Savè. This strategy could be useful for community-based surveillance.