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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.

Promotoras de Salud in a Father-Focused Nutrition and Physical Activity Program for Border Communities: Approaches and Lessons Learned from Collaboration
Explores the role community health workers, or promotoras de salud, played in the design, implementation, and evaluation of a father-focused health program for rural communities on the U.S.-Mexico border. Highlights some of the health and wellness issues for children and adults in the poor and under-resourced colonias along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Author(s): Cassandra M. Johnson, Marlyn A. Allicock, Joseph R. Sharkey, et al.
Citation: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(18), 11660
Date: 09/2022
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Evaluating the Dissemination and Implementation of a Community Health Worker-Based Community Wide Campaign to Improve Fruit and Vegetable Intake and Physical Activity among Latinos along the U.S.-Mexico Border
Describes a culturally tailored community-wide program to augment fruit and vegetable consumption and promote physical activity among 5,686 low-income Latinos of Mexican descent living in Texas. Features demographics and statistics on changes in fruit and vegetable consumption over the course of the intervention.
Author(s): Paul Gerardo Yeh, Belinda M. Reininger, Lisa A. Mitchell-Bennett, et al.
Citation: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(8), 4514
Date: 04/2022
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Medicaid Coverage of Community Health Worker Services
Provides an overview of types of community health workers (CHWs) and the services they provide. Summarizes studies examining the effects of CHW programs on health outcomes and costs. Discusses state approaches to covering CHW services through Medicaid, including the services covered, regulatory authorities used to provide Medicaid payment, the populations served, and training and certification requirements.
Date: 04/2022
Sponsoring organization: Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission
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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.
Additional links: Read Online
Author(s): Roundtable on Population Health Improvement
Date: 2021
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
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
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
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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
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
Sponsoring organization: Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute
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Advancing Health Equity Through Community Health Workers and Peer Providers: Mounting Evidence and Policy Recommendations
Reviews the results from 9 studies funded by the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute supporting the inclusion of community health workers (CHWs) and peer providers (PPs) as effective participants in addressing health and healthcare inequities, particularly for diverse communities. Each study presented focuses on a distinct function of utilizing CHWs and/or PPS such as mentoring, managing chronic conditions, and navigator support for serious mental illness and depression. Discusses why payers and providers should include CHWs and PPS in a variety of capacities to improve outcomes, add value to care, and control costs.
Date: 11/2019
Sponsoring organization: Families USA
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Last Updated: 10/15/2025