Community Health Workers – A Local Solution to a Global Problem

Authors: Prabhjot Singh, and Dave A. Chokshi

This paper urges scaling up the communityhealth workforce in the United States to improve health outcomes, reduce health care costs, and create jobs. The most crucial lesson from global CHW programs is that the community rootedness of CHWs should be retained through careful, representative selection and by ensuring that CHWs spend most of their time in the community. In the United States, certain structural advantages, such as the strong network of community health centers, could facilitate CHW integration into the health system. The timing for investment in CHWs is also propitious, given the post-ACA landscape and the potential for meaningful job creation. Although the operational challenges of CHW integration are manifold, the global experience offers hope for U.S. communities.