Building CHW capacity in New England: Support, supervision, and sustainability

The New England Asthma Innovations Collaborative (NEAIC) is a three-year CMS-funded Healthcare Innovation Award granted to Health Resources in Action/the Asthma Regional Council of New England.  This multi-state, multi-sectorial partnership seeks to improve health outcomes and lower utilization rates of 1,100+ severely asthmatic children in Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Vermont through evidence-based care.  NEAIC’s 8 clinical provider partners are each implementing an asthma home visiting program (including asthma self-management education, home environmental assessment, and environmental trigger remediation) delivered by trained, clinically-supervised Community Health Workers (CHWs).  NEAIC contracted with three workforce development partners to deliver training to the 12 CHWs in core competencies and asthma home visiting.  These trainings were designed specifically for CHWs and provided by the Central Massachusetts Area Health Education Center, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, and the Boston Public Health Commission (BPHC).   BPHC and the Massachusetts Association of CHWs convene the CHWs quarterly for in-person support, networking, and continuing education; this includes disease-focused training (e.g. Asthma Medications refresher courses) and core competencies (e.g. Motivational Interviewing (MI), Documentation, and Cultural Humility).  Additionally, NEAIC and workforce development partners provide training and support to the CHWs’ supervisors to promote the successful integration of CHWs into the clinical team, and effective communication with/supervision of CHWs.  This presenter will describe NEAIC’s workforce development efforts, explain why continuing education is an essential component of CHW sustainability, and discuss the challenges of continued support and education for CHWs.