Neuroscience Research Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Arch Iran Med. 2018 Dec 1;21(12):566-571.
Running for more than 25 years, the Women Health Volunteers (WHV) program in Iran has made many great achievements. Considering the new expectations from the health system, this national program needs to be revised and undergo fundamental changes. Although many studies have been conducted to evaluate this program, there still is a lack of a comprehensive nationwide assessment containing policy recommendations.
This study was conducted in a qualitative approach. The data were obtained from 3 sources: national documentations, semi-structured questionnaires by 49 key informants, and focused group discussions. The program was assessed in 4 domains including the program, goals, achievements, improved opportunities (weaknesses), and strategies for improvements.
The collected data were categorized into 4 main themes including goals and objectives, achievements, weaknesses, and recommendations. Main achievements of the WHV program are: increasing people's participation especially women, increasing health literacy, and increasing coverage and utilization of health services. The most important weaknesses of the program include: lack of a national roadmap and policy plan for the WHV program, lack of true belief in people's participation in policymakers, weakness in comprehensive system monitoring and evaluation, and inadequate funding.
Like many other health system programs in the country, the WHV program suffers from the lack of a binding strategic plan and goal so that by changes in management, sustainability of the program becomes hampered. An appropriate solution would be to operate the WHV program like a non-government organization (NGO) under the supervision of the Ministry of Health and Medical Education (MoHME).
伊朗的妇女健康志愿者（WHV）计划已经运行了 25 多年，取得了许多巨大的成就。考虑到卫生系统的新期望，这个国家计划需要修订并进行根本性的变革。尽管已经进行了许多研究来评估该计划，但仍然缺乏包含政策建议的全面全国评估。
本研究采用定性方法进行。数据来自三个来源：国家文件、49 名关键信息提供者的半结构化问卷和焦点小组讨论。该计划在四个领域进行了评估，包括计划、目标、成就、改进机会（劣势）和改进策略。
收集的数据分为四个主题，包括目标和目的、成就、劣势和建议。WHV 计划的主要成就是：增加了人们的参与度，特别是妇女的参与度，提高了健康素养，并增加了卫生服务的覆盖范围和利用率。该计划的最重要劣势包括：缺乏 WHV 计划的国家路线图和政策计划，政策制定者对人民参与缺乏真正的信念，全面系统监测和评估薄弱，以及资金不足。
与该国许多其他卫生系统计划一样，WHV 计划缺乏具有约束力的战略计划和目标，因此管理的变化阻碍了该计划的可持续性。一个适当的解决方案是在卫生部和医疗教育部（MoHME）的监督下，将 WHV 计划作为非政府组织（NGO）运作。
