Five health workers who are changing care: How J&J is championing nurses and community health workers

Through J&J CareCommunity, Johnson & Johnson is empowering frontline health workers with the skills, resources and support they need to make quality care available to more communities around the world. J&J CareCommunity is our new social impact platform aimed at expanding our efforts to champion nurses and community health workers to advance patient care around the world. Over the last two years, we have collaborated to upskill more than 2.25 million health workers around the world through education, training, and leadership programs so they can overcome challenges and improve care in their communities.

Nurses and community health workers (CHWs) are the backbone of our health systems, dedicating their time, expertise and compassion to improve lives every day. Meet a few of these exemplary healthcare workers on the frontlines of care:

1. Catarina is a community health worker in Brazil who embodies how health workers are key in connecting communities to care: she is a crucial link between the 200 families she serves and an often-complex healthcare system. She advocates for people to get the care they need and even founded an NGO to provide children with educational and artistic opportunities – all from her cell phone as a home base. Learn more about our efforts in Brazil here.
   
2. In districts across India, Enumula and his field staff team at TB Alert conduct daily outreach including in areas where data shows high numbers of undiagnosed TB cases. Enumula and team go door-to-door to carry out health screenings and health promotion to overcome barriers to seeking care. Building on this impact, this year J&J in partnership with J&J Foundation plan to support upskilling of more than 100,000 CHWs in urban poor communities in Delhi, Hyderabad and Pune. Read more.
   
3. Sister Nomthandazo is the first nurse within the Unjani Clinic network to achieve ownership of a J&J and J&J Foundation-funded clinic—and one of 92 nurses to date equipped through the network to own and lead the effort in transforming South Africa’s healthcare system. Unjani Clinic is a network of primary care clinics providing accessible, affordable and quality healthcare to communities in poorly served, low-income areas in South Africa. Since 2016, 17 clinics have been operationalized across the country, providing more than 322,000 consultations to patients in need. Read more.
   
4. Carolyne is the CHW Engagement Lead at Community Health Impact Coalition (CHIC) in Kenya, focused on making professional community health workers (proCHWs) the norm worldwide by advocating for changes to international guidelines and increased global funding so that quality care is given to all, including those who supply it. To date, 34 countries have adopted proCHW policies. Read more here.
   
5. For children with cleft conditions, hope arrives with perioperative nurses like Dandy, who travels to remote communities across the Philippines to provide care. Despite challenges like typhoons, landslides and financial barriers to treatment, Dandy and other dedicated nurses from Operation Smile work to ensure every patient can access safe surgical care. Read more.

Nurses and CHWs are the heart of healthcare systems, and at Johnson & Johnson, we’re proud to champion their innovation, passion and care. Subscribe to our newsletter to learn more and be inspired.