Community Workforce & Digital Accountability

Validity, digital responsibility, and the community health workforce in fragile contexts: governance innovations and health service performance in Somalia

Abdulrazaq Yusuf Ahmed and Mohamed Hussein Mohamed. IJQHC Communications. 2026;6(1):lyag007. Published 23 March 2026. Original Article.

Read the original article — DOI: 10.1093/ijcoms/lyag007

Plain-language summary

This study examines community health workers and digital feedback in Somalia. It combines routine service data with interviews and group discussions to understand how female community health workers and actionable feedback may improve service uptake. The paper reports improvements in maternal and child health indicators in districts implementing both approaches and describes trust, responsiveness and visible fairness as reinforcing mechanisms.

Study design

An explanatory sequential mixed-methods case study analysed routine DHIS2 data from 2018–2024 and qualitative data collected in 2024. Difference-in-differences models were used where phased implementation allowed.

What the findings mean

The findings suggest that workforce and digital reforms can work together when community feedback results in action. They describe associations in the study context; they should not be read as proof that every digital platform or community health workforce programme will produce the same outcome.

Citation

Ahmed AY, Mohamed MH. Validity, digital responsibility, and the community health workforce in fragile contexts: governance innovations and health service performance in Somalia. IJQHC Communications. 2026;6(1):lyag007. doi:10.1093/ijcoms/lyag007.

Source: supplied publisher PDF. Open access under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0. This summary is an adaptation; consult the original for methods and limitations.