Quality of the contribution of community volunteers in Benin community-based IMCI

Introduction: With the growing shortage of qualified healthcare professionals and the challenge of achieving the Millennium Development Goals, community participation has become an essential reality. In the Avrankou Adjarra Akpro-Misserete (3A) health zone of the Oueme department, community volunteers are supported by UNICEF and the NGO Africare. The objective of this study was to assess the quality of the contribution of community volunteers to implementation of community-based integrated management of childhood illness (IMCI). Methods: This cross-sectional, descriptive and analytical study was conducted in health zone 3A among 38 community volunteers and 331 mothers or carers of children under the age of five years, recruited exhaustively and randomly, respectively. Tools used for data collection were questionnaires, interview guides and survey sheets. Results: 81.6% of community volunteers demonstrated appropriate behaviour in relation to the various professionals of community-based IMCI, with good motivation in 71.1% of cases and acceptable motivation in 28.9% of cases. Motivation was significantly correlated with the quality of the contribution of community volunteers to implementation of community IMCI (P = 0.0012). Discussion: Motivation contributes to the quality of community volunteer input to COMMUNITY IMCI. This situation must be maintained by the combined efforts of all stakeholders involved in this strategy.