In the United States’ ongoing efforts to reduce health care disparities, community health workers are an underutilized and valuable resource. As healthcare companies, nonprofits, and government agencies work to expand access to care, it’s important to understand how these professionals can help our communities.
Community health workers are frontline public health workers who are trusted members of or deeply understand the communities they serve. These dedicated individuals receive special training on how to improve connections between historically marginalized communities and the health care system.
In the US, public health workers provide a range of important services in many different settings. They may provide first aid, distribute educational materials, make home visits, or accompany patients on trips to medical appointments. They can also serve as “cultural mediators,” helping with language barriers and other obstacles to quality care. They may work in hospitals, primary care clinics, and public health departments, as well as on campuses or in local community organizations.
Although community health workers are certified through formal training, there are no traditional degree requirements, opening up jobs for people with diverse backgrounds and empowering them to make a huge impact.
Community health worker Andrea Barstow recently completed training at Meharry College of Medicine, a historically black medical school in Nashville, Tennessee that trains healthcare workers to address mental and cardiovascular health disparities in their communities across the state.
Barstow became a community health worker because she wanted to help her brother, who had mental health issues.
“As I helped him by seeking out mental health resources, I began to share the information with others. The more I shared, the more I found myself at community events,” she says. “That’s when I decided what I wanted to do was become a community health worker.”
The program at Meharry Medical College covers areas such as motivational interviewing, chronic disease screening and CPR, in which community health workers can obtain certifications. With the knowledge and skills gained through evidence-based training, community health workers can provide critical resources and services to historically under-resourced communities that often equate demographically with members of this critical workforce.
According to a survey by the National Association of Community Health Workers in 2021, 31.7% of community health workers identified as African American/Black, 37.7% identified as Hispanic, and 11.1% identified as multiracial or other. These communities may experience poorer health outcomes due to challenges in accessing care; unmet health-related social needs such as transport, food or housing; as well as the overt and implicit biases of suppliers from different origins. Community health workers can bridge these gaps and help improve health outcomes by helping patients navigate the health care system, building trust, and helping patients connect with social services that meet their needs.
By using this pool of people, health professionals focus on the strengths and resources already within communities—namely, their people—to support care and build a crucial continuum in the health care system.
As healthcare organizations and medical schools continue to focus on expanding community health worker programs, our hope is that more individuals and families across the country will experience their impact firsthand.
Meharry Medical College is a member of CVS Health’s Community Equity Alliancewhich brings together academic and healthcare institutions to help expand the workforce of community health workers and address disparities in heart health and mental health.
