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Rural Health Information Hub

Community Health Workers in Rural Settings – Resources

Selected recent or important resources focusing on Community Health Workers in Rural Settings.

On the Front Lines of Health Equity: Community Health Workers
Provides an overview of the roles of community health workers (CHWs) and the benefits they can bring to healthcare organizations and communities. Serves as a resource for organizations planning and implementing a new CHW program. Includes information and best practices on assessing community needs, recruiting CHWs, and securing sustainable program funding.
Date: 04/2021
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
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CHWs At Work: Making a Difference for Oklahoma's Marshallese Community
Highlights an Oklahoma program that uses community health workers (CHWs) for outreach to the Marshallese community in a three-county area. Provides a brief history and overview of the Marshallese population and discusses the health concerns the CHWs address.
Author(s): Kay Miller Temple
Citation: Rural Monitor
Date: 03/2021
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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Dialogue About the Workforce for Population Health Improvement: Proceedings of a Workshop
Presentations from a workshop facilitating a population health perspective among public health and healthcare leaders and professionals; framing the work of personnel such as community health workers, health navigators, and peer-to-peer chronic disease management educators within the context of population health; and leveraging the competencies of public- and private-sector workforces that are working to include a well-being orientation in their activities.
Author(s): Roundtable on Population Health Improvement
Date: 2021
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Health and Medicine Division (HMD), National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
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Innovative Health Care Provider Roles
Discusses healthcare provider types that might have the potential to benefit rural communities including community health workers, community paramedics, patient advocates, health coaches, and dental therapists.
Date: 07/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Value
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Finding Innovation and Resilience During the COVID-19 Pandemic: How Rural Health Organizations Are Adapting Their Program Strategies
Summarizes a series of virtual peer learning sessions in response to COVID-19 for current Rural Health Care Services Outreach Program, Rural Health Network Development, Small Healthcare Provider Quality Improvement, and Delta States Rural Development Network program grantees. Provides an overview of common themes that emerged from the sessions. Discusses the challenges and innovations made to implement rural health and public programs across six areas: community health workers, data collection and evaluation, virtual trainings, peer support services and recovery supports, telehealth utilization, and schools.
Additional links: Adaptive Strategies for Rural Grantees Amid COVID-19: Adjusting Approaches to Data Collection and Utilization, Adaptive Strategies for Rural Grantees Amid COVID-19: Peer Support and Recovery Services in a Virtual Environment, Adaptive Strategies for Rural Grantees Amid COVID-19: Strategies for Supporting Community by Maintaining Work With Schools, Adaptive Strategies for Rural Grantees Amid COVID-19: Taking Community Health Worker Practice Virtual, Adaptive Strategies for Rural Grantees Amid COVID-19: Using Telehealth in New and Improved Ways to Meet Emerging Needs, Guide for Planning and Hosting an Effective Virtual Meeting/Training Event
Author(s): Tanisa Adimu, John Butts, Coleman Tanner, et al.
Date: 05/2020
Type: Website
Sponsoring organization: Georgia Health Policy Center
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Strengthening Community-Clinical Linkages to Reduce Cardiovascular Disease Risk in Rural NC: Feasibility Phase of the CHANGE Study
Highlights a study evaluating the implementation and effectiveness of a cardiovascular disease prevention program using community health worker (CHW) interventions. Analyzes the CHANGE program in rural North Carolina and discusses the program's design, implementation, and outcomes.
Author(s): Carmen D. Samuel-Hodge, Ziya Gizlice, Sallie D. Allgood, et al.
Citation: BMC Public Health, 20, 264
Date: 02/2020
Type: Document
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An Emerging Model for Community Health Worker-Based Chronic Care Management for Patients With High Health Care Costs in Rural Appalachia
Describes a community health worker-based chronic care management model implemented in rural counties in 3 central Appalachian states. Demonstrates how to engage health insurance companies to support and sustain this model.
Author(s): Richard Crespo, Matthew Christiansen, Kim Tieman, Richard Wittberg
Citation: Preventing Chronic Disease, 17
Date: 02/2020
Type: Document
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Recognizing and Sustaining the Value of Community Health Workers and Promotores
Discusses the ways in which community health workers and promotores (CHW/Ps) contribute to the healthcare system, with a focus on California. Gives examples of the ways in which CHW/Ps in rural areas can alleviate workforce shortages, strengthen patient engagement with the healthcare system, and act as liaisons to social structures, including churches and Native American tribal organizations.
Author(s): Jim Lloyd, Kathy Moses, Rachel Davis
Date: 01/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Center for Health Care Strategies
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Making Community Health Workers (CHWs) Fundamental: New Research Strengthens the Case for State Policymakers to Include CHWs in Care Delivery Teams
Summarizes key findings from previous Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) funded studies in 9 states on Community Health Workers (CHWs) interventions and their effect on diverse ethnic, racial, socioeconomic and geographic backgrounds, including rural. Offers evidence-based recommendations to help state policymakers integrate CHWs into healthcare delivery teams to improve health outcomes and reduce the cost of healthcare for individuals and populations.
Author(s): Denisse Sanchez, Sinsi Hernández-Cancio, Eliot Fishman
Date: 12/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute
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Community Health Worker Roles and Responsibilities in Rural and Urban America
Results of a study to explore community health worker (CHW) roles and responsibilities, the growing professionalization of the field, and interactions between CHWs and other healthcare providers. Uses data obtained from focus groups conducted in Florida, Minnesota, California, and Massachusetts. Provides an in-depth look at the differences between CHW work in rural and urban areas, and offers insights to support continued growth of the field.
Author(s): Timothy H. Callaghan, David J. Washburn, Cason D. Schmit, et al.
Date: 11/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Southwest Rural Health Research Center
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Last Updated: 3/19/2024