Building and Sustaining a Health Care Workforce: Community Health Workers
COVID-19 has fundamentally changed the face of the health care workforce. The pandemic has strained hospitals, affecting caregivers’ well-being and resulting in many leaving their hospital jobs. The AHA has been collecting resources to assist organizations in their efforts to plan for the future post-COVID-19 workforce.
Community health workers (CHW) are community members who work in the community setting and serve as connectors between health care providers and consumers to promote health among groups that have traditionally been underserved. CHWs provide support and health education that is needed for individuals to successfully modify behaviors, increase engagement in their treatment plan development and increase the likelihood of improved health outcomes. Despite the many positive contributions CHWs bring to delivering high quality care, they experience significant barriers to becoming integrated members of the clinical care team. This set of resources will help to guide institutions toward building a CHW program to strengthen and sustain their health care workforce.
OVERVIEW OF COMMUNITY HEALTH WORKER PROGRAMS
CRITICAL INPUTS FOR SUCCESSFUL COMMUNITY HEALTH WORKER PROGRAMS: A WHITE PAPER
SUCCESSFUL CHW PROGRAMS ARE COMPLEX AND REQUIRE METICULOUS PLANNING: THE IMPaCT MODEL
TOOLS AND RESOURCES
AHA AND NUL: BUILDING A COMMUNITY HEALTH WORKER PROGRAM
PENN MEDICINE CENTER FOR COMMUNITY HEALTH WORKERS
OUTCOMES RESEARCH
CLINICAL INTEGRATION OF COMMUNITY HEALTH WORKERS TO REDUCE HEALTH INEQUITIES IN OVERBURDENED AND UNDER-RESOURCED POPULATIONS
AN EMERGING MODEL FOR COMMUNITY HEALTH WORKER-BASED CHRONIC CARE MANAGEMENT FOR PATIENTS WITH HIGH HEALTH CARE COSTS IN RURAL APPALACHIA
CAN COMMUNITY HEALTH WORKERS INCREASE PALLIATIVE CARE USE FOR AFRICAN AMERICAN PATIENTS? A PILOT STUDY
CASE STUDIES
VIDEOS AND PODCASTS SPOTLIGHT THE EFFORTS OF THE AHA AND UNIDOSUS ALLIANCE
NORTHEASTERN VERMONT REGIONAL HOSPITAL: COMMUNITY HEALTH WORKERS
PROMOTING SAFE QUARANTINE AND ISOLATION FOR COVID-19 MARGINALIZED POUPLATIONS: CASE STUDIES ON CARE RESOURCE COORDINATION IN COVID-19
WINONA HEALTH: THE WINONA WELLBEING COLLABORATIVE + WINONA COMMUNITY HUB
SOUTHWESTERN VERMONT MEDICAL CENTER: TRANSITIONAL PROGRAM