New Study Highlights How Community Health Workers’ Lived Experiences Shape Maternal Health Behaviors

Community health workers (ASHAs) play a central role in improving maternal and child health in India, yet little is known about how their own lived experiences influence the women they serve.

Methods

Using survey data from 400 ASHAs and 1,166 mothers across rural Bihar, we examined whether ASHAs’ personal maternal health practices were associated with the perinatal behaviors of their clients.

Key Findings

ASHAs’ own experiences — both adherence to recommended biomedical practices and participation in culturally rooted traditions — were strongly associated with similar behaviors among the mothers they counseled. These findings suggest that community health workers’ lived experiences are an important resource for designing culturally responsive maternal health programs.

Citation

Hashmi, F. A., Burger, O., Mondal, S., & Legare, C. H. (2025). Lived experiences in action: Relations between community health workers’ and clients’ perinatal health behaviours in India. Global Public Health, 20(1).