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Report of Training Needs Assessment for Community Health Workers in South-South Geopolitical Region of Nigeria

One of the recommendations from a 2013 CapacityPlus assessment of PEPFAR-funded in-service training in Nigeria was to ensure broader access to new developments in knowledge and technology, as well as sustainability of training, by integrating the in-service training contents into preservice education curricula and continuing professional development programs. This assessment explored community health extension worker and community health officer perceptions of globally-accepted competency domains for public health practitioners across the areas of importance, and confidence in their ability to demonstrate those competencies. To corroborate findings at the domain level, the assessment also assessed these health workers at the individual skill/ability levels, which are mapped to the competency domain areas. Need scores were calculated for each competency domain and individual skill/ability levels. A need score ranking placed the need for computer and information technology access and skills as the top priority among health workers who participated in the study. Financial planning and management and public health science skills ranked a close second and third. No significant association was demonstrated with study participants’ background characteristics, implying that a uniform in-service training/continuing professional development and relicensure program can be established along the lines of the prioritized competency domain areas.