The Community Health Worker (CHW) role has proliferated in the U.S. over the past decade. While much has been written about the goals of such workers, their training and possible uses, little data based research has been conducted on the outcomes of their work. The author presents here an integrative review of the literature on outcome effectivness of CHWs over the past twenty years; a total of twenty-two studies were reviewed for this analysis. CHWs primarily function in the following roles: screening, outreach, advocacy, case management, and health education. In general, CHWs are used to reach hard to serve populations, such as low income women and children, ethnic minorities, and high risk groups. This review indicated that there is little support in the literature for CHW effectiveness in screening, outreach and advocacy. There is support for CHWs functioning in health education and modified case management, particularly with hard to reach populations. More research is needed to replicate the existing studies, examine more closely the other roles, document specifically what makes the CHW effective in these roles, and examine the cost effectiveness of such services. Randomized clinical trials would be particularly useful to increase the validity and reliability of the results. In addition, there are no data based studies of the effect of CHWs on community development/empowerment; such work would be a welcome addition to the literature.
Learning Objectives: 1. Name five roles often performed by Community Health Workers (CHWs). 2. Identify which of these roles have documented effectiveness in the research literature. 3. Identify at least three areas in need of further research to document the effectiveness of CHWs
Keywords: Community Health Advisor, Outcomes Research
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.