Community Health Workers (CHWs) are gaining recognition in the United States as essential members of the healthcare workforce. This qualitative study analyzed the CHW certification process in seven US states to further understand effective CHW workforce development and professionalization. Investigators identified requiring education and verifying CHWs are from the community … [Read more...] about “Nothing About Us Without Us”: Insights from State-level Efforts to Implement Community Health Worker Certification
North America (U.S. and Canada)
Effect of Community Health Workers on 30-Day Hospital Readmissions in an Accountable Care Organization Population: A Randomized Clinical Trial
Understanding how to reduce hospital readmissions is important for reducing costs and has been a key focus of accountable care organizations (ACOs). This randomized clinical trial evaluated the usefulness of pairing ACO-insured adults with community health workers (CHWs) to reduce hospital readmission rates within 30 days of discharge. The authors found that the pairing of CHWs … [Read more...] about Effect of Community Health Workers on 30-Day Hospital Readmissions in an Accountable Care Organization Population: A Randomized Clinical Trial
Development of an Asthma Home-Visit Training Program for Community Health Workers and Their Supervisors in Washington State
The authors of this study described a CHW-led home-visit model to improve asthma-related outcomes in Seattle, Washington; they analyze the factors that led to effective training of CHWs to conduct this work. They identified that community engagement in the training development, a strong training curriculum, and evaluation of the training were important to support CHWs. These … [Read more...] about Development of an Asthma Home-Visit Training Program for Community Health Workers and Their Supervisors in Washington State
Community Health Worker Knowledge, Attitudes, Practices and Readiness to Manage Intimate Partner Violence
Intimate partner violence (IPV) remains a serious problem in the United States, yet there are few studies on the role of CHWs in addressing IPV. This study evaluates the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of CHWs in the United States regarding IPV. The authors found that CHWs lacked substantial knowledge on IPV; about half of CHWs who participated in the study had no previous … [Read more...] about Community Health Worker Knowledge, Attitudes, Practices and Readiness to Manage Intimate Partner Violence
Body composition outcomes of Healthy Fit and the role of acculturation among low-income Hispanics on the US-Mexico border
Hispanic immigrants to the United States experience higher rates of negative weight-related health outcomes than non-Hispanic individuals. This longitudinal observational study assessed the effectiveness of a community health worker (CHW) led weight-management intervention, Healthy Fit, focused on nutrition education and promotion of physical activity. The researchers found … [Read more...] about Body composition outcomes of Healthy Fit and the role of acculturation among low-income Hispanics on the US-Mexico border