Resource Details

Understanding Health Centers that Employ CHWs

Year Developed: 2022

Resource Type: Publication.

Primary Audience: Administrative Staff C-Suite (CEOs, CFOs, CIO, COOs, CMOs, etc.) PCAs
Secondary Audience: Board of Directors Clinicians

Language(s): English

Developed by: MHP Salud (See other resources developed by this organization).

Resource Summary: 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 Details: Community Health Workers (CHWs) are lay members of the community who work with local health care systems in urban, peri-urban, and rural areas. CHWs typically share ethnicity, language, socioeconomic status, and life experiences with the community members they serve. CHWs can be integrated into health care center teams to diversify the way health organizations reach individuals and improve their quality of services. Within HCs, CHWs provide a wide array of services beyond interpretation, translation, and administrative tasks, including screening patients for social determinants of health (SDOH), linking patients to care, and providing case management and health education. Currently, there are 457 HCs nationwide that employ CHWs according to the Uniform Data System (UDS) Resources.

Resource Topic: Workforce

Resource Subtopic: Enabling Services (ES), Programs and Services, Team-Based Care.

Keywords: Community Health Workers, Uniform Data System (UDS).