IMPOWRing Community Health Workers
Community Health Workers (CHWs) have a rich international history, from Russia's Feldshers of the late 1880s who were trained as paramedics to provide primary health care in rural areas, to the China's Barefoot Doctors program in the 1920s, to early CHW programs that proliferated in the 1970s in countries like, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Tanzania, and Venezuela.[1] In the U.S., the role of CHWs gained prominence during the civil rights movement in the 1960s and 1970s when communities in the Southern U.S. began advocating for better access to healthcare for marginalized populations. Community Health Workers were recognized for their ability to reach low-income and minority populations who faced barriers to accessing traditional healthcare services due to issues such as language, transportation, and distrust of the healthcare system.
In the 1990s, CHWs gained further recognition as patient advocates and health educators, especially in urban areas. With growing awareness of the social determinants of health, the importance of CHWs increased globally. The World Health Organization (WHO) and other global health organizations recognized CHWs as a key part of achieving universal health coverage and addressing health inequalities.
With the fractured and complex United States health and social care system, CHWs are increasingly integrated into primary care teams and other coordinated efforts, like patient-centered medical homes and services offered by managed care plans (MCPs), like in California Advancing and Innovating Medi-Cal (CalAIM) initiative. All of these efforts focus on leveraging CHWs to improve patient outcomes, prevent hospitalizations, reduce unnecessary use of emergency services, and reduce avoidable healthcare costs by coordinating health and social care. The evidence is clear, CHWs are a cost-effective solution in modern care systems, benefiting both patients and providers. Here are some of the key areas CHWs make an impact:
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Bridging Care Gaps: CHWs act as liaisons between providers and underserved communities, helping individuals navigate complex healthcare systems and connect with necessary services and do while working with populations that face barriers such as low health literacy, language differences, and economic hardships, ensuring these communities understand and access the healthcare system.
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Health Education and Chronic Disease Management: CHWs provide culturally relevant health education, teaching community members about disease prevention, healthy behaviors, and chronic disease management (e.g., diabetes, hypertension). They support individuals with chronic illnesses by helping them navigate healthcare services, understand their treatment plans, and adhere to medication schedules.
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Addressing Social Determinants of Health: In many healthcare systems, CHWs address the social determinants of health by connecting individuals to resources for housing, food security, employment, and mental health services, which directly impact overall health.
At IMPOWR, we are proud to share that we have partnered with Pathways Community HUB Institute (PCHI) Model and were recently certified as a Technology Vendor. The PCHI Model helps communities build a transformative and sustainable community-based care coordination network with CHWs at the center.
The PCHI Model provides training and tools for CHWs and a framework to track risk factors from identification through mitigation and link payment directly to outcomes. In addition, the PCHI Model is a quality improvement framework for communities to build their own robust network of community-based care coordination in partnership with local stakeholders to align resources and achieve positive outcomes. As a technology solution, IMPOWR is now certified to support, regardless of size, any and all hubs that have or plan to obtain PCHI certification to continue to serve their community in a scalable and sustainable way.
For more information about our services or how to partner with us, please visit our website or contact us at info@continualcaresolutions.com.
IMPOWR your social care infrastructure; IMPOWR your Network