The majority of studies showed improved health outcomes when compared with usual healthcare , including reductions in blood pressure , increased uptake of medications and lower depression scores .
Factors such as training of NPHWs , provision of algorithms and protocol s for screening , treatment and drug titration were the main enablers of the task-shifting intervention .
The main barriers identified were restrictions on prescribing medications and availability of medicines .
CONCLUSIONS Task-shifting from physicians to NPHWs , if accompanied by health system re-structuring is a potentially effective and affordable strategy for improving access to healthcare for NCDs .
BACKGROUND One potential solution to limited healthcare access in low and middle income countries ( LMIC ) is task-shifting- the training of  non-physician healthcare workers ( NPHWs ) to perform tasks traditionally undertaken by physicians .
The aim of this paper is to conduct a systematic review of studies involving task-shifting for the management of non-communicable disease ( NCD ) in LMIC .
Cognitive behaviour therapy-based intervention by community health workers for mothers with depression and their infants in rural Pakistan: a cluster-randomised controlled trial
Summary Background The treatment of perinatal depression is a public-health priority because of its high prevalence and association with disability and poor infant development . We integrated a cognitive behaviour therapy-based intervention into the routine work of community-based primary health workers in rural Pakistan and assessed the effect of this intervention on  maternal depression and infant outcomes . Methods We r and omly assigned 40 Union Council clusters in rural Rawalpindi , Pakistan , in equal numbers to intervention or control . Married women ( aged 16–45 years ) in their third trimester of pregnancy with perinatal depression were eligible to participate . In the intervention group , primary health workers were trained to deliver the psychological intervention , whereas in the control group untrained health workers made an equal number of visits to the depressed mothers . The primary outcomes were infant weight and height at 6 months and 12 months , and secondary outcome was maternal depression . The interviewers were unaware of what group the participants were assigned to . Analysis was by intention to treat . The study is registered as IS RCT N65316374 . Findings The number of clusters per group was 20 , with 463 mothers in the intervention group and 440 in the control group . At 6 months , 97 ( 23 % ) of 418 and 211 ( 53 % ) of 400 mothers in the intervention and control groups , respectively , met the criteria for major depression ( adjusted odds ratio ( OR ) 0·22 , 95 % CI 0·14 to 0·36 , p<0·0001 ) . These effects were sustained at 12 months ( 111/412 [ 27 % ] vs 226/386 [ 59 % ] , adjusted OR 0·23 , 95 % CI 0·15 to 0·36 , p<0·0001 ) . The differences in weight-for-age and height-for-age Z scores for infants in the two groups were not significant at 6 months ( −0·83 vs −0·86 , p=0·7 and −2·03 vs −2·16 , p=0·3 , respectively ) or 12 months ( −0·64 vs −0·8 , p=0·3 and −1·10 vs −1·36 , p=0·07 , respectively ) . Interpretation This psychological intervention delivered by community-based primary health workers has the potential to be integrated into health systems in re source -poor setting s. Funding Wellcome Trust
The majority of studies showed improved health outcomes when compared with usual healthcare , including reductions in blood pressure , increased uptake of medications and lower depression scores .
Factors such as training of NPHWs , provision of algorithms and protocol s for screening , treatment and drug titration were the main enablers of the task-shifting intervention .
The main barriers identified were restrictions on prescribing medications and availability of medicines .
CONCLUSIONS Task-shifting from physicians to NPHWs , if accompanied by health system re-structuring is a potentially effective and affordable strategy for improving access to healthcare for NCDs .
BACKGROUND One potential solution to limited healthcare access in low and middle income countries ( LMIC ) is task-shifting- the training of  non-physician healthcare workers ( NPHWs ) to perform tasks traditionally undertaken by physicians .
The aim of this paper is to conduct a systematic review of studies involving task-shifting for the management of non-communicable disease ( NCD ) in LMIC .