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Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Community Health Officer

💰 $ - $

Public HealthCommunity HealthHealthcarePrimary Care

🎯 Role Definition

The Community Health Officer (CHO) is a frontline public health practitioner responsible for planning, implementing, and supervising community-level health interventions that improve population health outcomes. The CHO conducts health promotion and disease prevention activities, provides basic clinical assessment and referral services, leads immunization and maternal-newborn outreach, performs community surveillance and outbreak response, trains and supports community health volunteers, and maintains high-quality routine data and reports to district health authorities. This role requires a blend of clinical knowledge, community engagement, data management, and programmatic coordination to deliver equitable, culturally appropriate primary health services.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

  • Community Health Worker / Community Health Volunteer
  • Nursing Assistant or Enrolled Nurse
  • Health Educator or Outreach Worker

Advancement To:

  • Senior Community Health Officer / Senior Public Health Officer
  • District Health Officer / Primary Healthcare Coordinator
  • Program Manager (Maternal & Child Health, Immunization, Disease Control)

Lateral Moves:

  • Health Promotion Officer
  • Monitoring & Evaluation (M&E) Officer
  • WASH (Water, Sanitation & Hygiene) Coordinator

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

  • Lead and conduct household and community visits to identify health needs, provide maternal and child health services (antenatal care screening, postnatal visits, newborn care), and deliver individualized health counseling and referrals in line with national protocols.
  • Plan, organize and deliver routine immunization sessions and mass vaccination campaigns, ensuring adherence to cold chain requirements, vaccine safety protocols, client counseling, and accurate session reporting.
  • Perform active disease surveillance at community level: detect, register, and report suspected cases of priority diseases (malaria, TB, measles, cholera, COVID-19, etc.), carry out contact tracing where applicable, and support rapid response and outbreak containment measures.
  • Provide community-level screening, basic clinical assessment, first aid and stabilization, and refer complicated cases to higher-level facilities following established referral pathways and documentation procedures.
  • Coordinate and supervise community health volunteers and peer educators: assign tasks, provide on-the-job mentoring and supportive supervision, validate community registers, and ensure quality of outreach activities and home-based care.
  • Implement and lead behavior change communication (BCC) and health promotion activities tailored to local cultural context—conduct group education sessions, school health talks, community dialogues, and participatory health promotion campaigns to improve uptake of services.
  • Promote and deliver family planning counseling, contraceptive services education, and referrals for long-acting reversible methods in accordance with national guidelines and informed consent procedures.
  • Conduct nutrition screening and growth monitoring for children under five, provide breastfeeding support and counseling for infant and young child feeding (IYCF), and refer cases of acute malnutrition to nutrition programs.
  • Support integrated management of childhood illness (IMCI) at community level: recognize danger signs, treat uncomplicated cases when authorized, and ensure timely referral and follow-up for sick children.
  • Maintain and update routine health records and registers (immunization, antenatal, postnatal, malaria testing, TB contacts), ensure data integrity, and submit timely, accurate reports to facility and district health management teams.
  • Use digital data collection tools (ODK, CommCare, DHIS2 reporting interfaces, mHealth apps) and paper registers to capture service delivery and surveillance data; troubleshoot common technical issues and train CHVs on data tools.
  • Plan and manage community outreach logistics, including micro-planning for outreach sessions, arranging transport, ensuring supply availability, and coordinating with local leaders and community structures.
  • Facilitate and participate in periodic community health assessments and mapping exercises to identify vulnerable populations, service gaps, and areas for targeted interventions.
  • Support antenatal care linkage and birth preparedness by counseling pregnant women on danger signs, nutrition, facility delivery options, and newborn care, and by tracking deliveries and postpartum follow-up visits.
  • Conduct routine monitoring and quality assurance checks on community health activities, identify gaps in service delivery, and lead continuous quality improvement initiatives with measurable indicators.
  • Advocate with community leaders, civil society organizations, and local governance structures to mobilize community participation, reduce barriers to access, and increase uptake of preventive and promotive health services.
  • Participate in supply chain management at the community level: monitor essential commodity stocks, report shortages, ensure cold chain functionality for vaccines, and manage safe disposal of medical waste.
  • Provide TB and HIV linkage-to-care support: identify presumptive cases, ensure sputum/sample referral, support adherence counseling, and collaborate with treatment programs to follow up defaulters.
  • Support school health activities, WASH interventions, and community environmental health initiatives that reduce infectious disease risk (latrine promotion, handwashing campaigns, vector control awareness).
  • Maintain patient confidentiality and ethical standards in all community interactions, obtain informed consent for services, and ensure cultural sensitivity when interacting with diverse community groups.
  • Participate in emergency preparedness and response activities during epidemics, natural disasters, or humanitarian crises, including community risk communication, surveillance intensification, and coordination with emergency health teams.

Secondary Functions

  • Prepare and submit weekly and monthly program reports, contribute to district-level dashboards and routine health information systems, and support data verification and cleaning exercises.
  • Assist in the design and implementation of community-level monitoring & evaluation (M&E) activities, household surveys, and KAP (knowledge, attitudes, practices) assessments to inform program planning.
  • Support training workshops and refresher sessions for community health volunteers, peer educators, and facility-level staff on protocols, data tools, and community engagement strategies.
  • Participate in multidisciplinary coordination meetings with facility staff, district health teams, NGOs, and partners to synchronize outreach plans, share surveillance alerts, and resolve operational issues.
  • Contribute to the development and adaptation of IEC/BCC materials, job aids, and community counseling tools to improve clarity, cultural relevance, and behavior change impact.
  • Support special projects such as maternal waiting homes, community-based newborn care initiatives, and targeted campaigns (malaria bed net distribution, vitamin A supplementation).
  • Conduct targeted follow-up of defaulters for immunization, chronic disease appointments, and TB treatment, using case tracking and home visits to improve retention and adherence.
  • Provide inputs into annual community health plans and micro-planning documents, including resource requirements, target population estimates, and outreach schedules.
  • Support logistics and cold chain maintenance checks prior to outreach, report vaccine wastage, and ensure safe handling and storage of medical supplies during transport and sessions.
  • Actively collect community feedback and patient satisfaction information, escalate significant issues to supervisors, and participate in community feedback mechanisms to improve service quality.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

  • Community health assessment and outreach planning: ability to conduct rapid community appraisals, map vulnerable groups, and micro-plan outreach sessions.
  • Disease surveillance and outbreak investigation: detection, case definition use, contact tracing, sample referral and reporting to relevant authorities.
  • Immunization program management (EPI): session planning, cold chain awareness, vaccine handling, contraindications, and session documentation.
  • Maternal, newborn and child health (MNCH) interventions: antenatal/postnatal screening, newborn care, breastfeeding counseling, growth monitoring and IMCI fundamentals.
  • Family planning counseling and method mix knowledge: client-centered counseling, side-effect counseling, and referral pathways.
  • Digital data collection and reporting: familiarity with DHIS2, ODK/CommCare, mHealth apps, Excel and basic data quality assurance.
  • Basic clinical assessment and first aid: triage, recognition of danger signs, stabilization, and referral for emergencies.
  • Supply chain and cold chain management at community level: stock monitoring, reporting, and appropriate vaccine storage practices.
  • Behavior change communication (BCC) and health education techniques: development and delivery of targeted messages and facilitation skills.
  • Case management and referral tracking: documenting referrals, follow-up visits, and coordinating with higher-level facilities and partners.

Soft Skills

  • Excellent verbal and written communication skills for community dialogue, counseling, and multi-stakeholder coordination.
  • Strong cultural competence and community engagement abilities; respectful and sensitive to local beliefs and practices.
  • Leadership and mentorship: capacity to supervise and motivate community health volunteers and facilitate on-the-job training.
  • Problem solving and critical thinking: identify operational barriers and design practical solutions in resource-limited settings.
  • Organizational and time-management skills to balance outreach schedules, home visits, data entry, and reporting deadlines.
  • Empathy and patient-centered approach, maintaining confidentiality and dignity in all interactions.
  • Teamwork and collaboration with health facility staff, district managers, NGOs, and community groups.
  • Adaptability and resilience to work in remote, rapidly changing, or emergency contexts.
  • Attention to detail for accurate record keeping, stock management, and quality assurance.
  • Negotiation and stakeholder management skills for community mobilization and intersectoral collaboration.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

  • Certificate or Diploma in Nursing, Public Health, Community Health, Environmental Health, or related health field. Equivalent community health certification accepted in some contexts.

Preferred Education:

  • Bachelor's degree in Public Health, Nursing, Midwifery, Community Health, Health Promotion, or Health Sciences.

Relevant Fields of Study:

  • Public Health / Community Health
  • Nursing / Midwifery
  • Environmental Health / Health Promotion
  • Nutrition / Health Education

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range:

  • 2–5 years of experience in community health service delivery, outreach programming, or primary health care at the community level.

Preferred:

  • 3+ years working as a Community Health Officer, Community Health Worker supervisor, or similar role supporting immunization, MNCH, disease surveillance, or health promotion programs.
  • Experience using DHIS2, mobile data collection tools (ODK/CommCare), and conducting community-level M&E.
  • Prior experience supervising community volunteers, participating in outbreak response, and managing community outreach logistics is highly desirable.
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