Clinical Care Teams and Community Health Worker Resources
Resources and Reference Materials on CHWs and Clinical Care Teams
Collaborations between Community Health Workers (CHWs) and Clinical Care Teams can have a positive impact on the health of the communities they serve. Because CHWs live in and speak the language of the community, it puts them in a unique position to contribute to clinical care teams. Their connections to community members helps them better understand the context behind a patients condition which leads to the development of more effective care plans. These resources were developed by MHP Salud to help Health Centers integrate CHWs into care teams and can serve as references for best practices when implementing Community Health Worker programs.
Understanding Health Centers that Employ CHWs
This report analyzes and compares 2020 USDS data with a smaller assessment conducted with Health Centers that employ Community Health Workers (CHWs). This comparative analysis includes the presence of minority and special populations and the types of chronic diseases that are treated to understand the role community composition plays in determining the presence of CHWs within Health Centers.
Resource Guide for Health Centers: Community Health Workers and COVID-19 Vaccine
COVID-19 vaccines are a critical tool to help stop the spread of disease and protect our communities. This is especially important as disparities in accessing COVID-19 education and resources continue to impact special and vulnerable communities. As trusted members of their communities who empower their peers through education and connections to health and social resources, Community Health Workers/Promotores(as) de Salud play an important role in providing equitable COVID-19 vaccination education and resources.
Nine Tips for Integrating CHWs into Health Center Teams
Although Promotoras can be an asset to any care team, to flourish in this role they need Health Center support. Here are nine tips that will help your Health Center integrate Promotoras into a care team. You can also download the PDF version below.
Making The Case For Community Health Workers On Clinical Care Teams: A Single-Session Implementation Guide
Although Community Health Workers (CHWs) have a long history of successfully addressing health disparities, their full potential has yet to be realized in a clinical setting. A significant obstacle to achieving full integration of CHWs on health care teams is confusion regarding the role of a CHW on part of clinical staff. This guide is meant to address this obstacle in order to garner stronger support for CHWs in clinical settings. The information in this guide is meant to prepare a CHW advocate to present to clinical staff on the role of CHW in clinical settings.
Community Health Worker Clinical Integration Toolkit
With a long history of successfully and effectively addressing health disparities, Community Health Workers (CHWs) can fill the gaps in services that many health care organizations experience in reaching underserved populations. For instance, six published studies on CHW interventions on the prevention and management of diabetes have shown significant positive outcomes, including changes in HbA1c levels and improved self-reports of dietary changes. In addition, six studies of CHW interventions focused on cervical cancer prevention reported positive outcomes, including a significant increase in the number of patients receiving a Pap smear and a larger change in the number of patients ever having a Pap smear. These outcomes support the effectiveness of the CHW model in prevention and disease management within Care Teams.
Identifying CHWs in Your Health Center
This tool will facilitate the identification of Community Health Workers (CHWs) in Unifrom Data Systems; this is key to accurately measure health access as a result of CHW programs within a health center and to pinpoint appropriate training and technical assistance for your CHWs.
Training for your organization, made simple.
In addition to publishing resources and conducting our own CHW programs, MHP Salud offers a variety of training and consulting services to help organizations create and optimize their own CHW programs. When we provide these services, we put over four decades of experience to work to enhance your organization’s services and improve your overall reach.
