TY - JOUR
T1 - The Changing Roles of Community Health Workers
AU - Malcarney, Mary Beth
AU - Pittman, Patricia
AU - Quigley, Leo
AU - Horton, Katherine
AU - Seiler, Naomi
N1 - Funding Information:
Joint Acknowledgments/Disclaimer Statement: Support for this project came from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service's Office of Minority Health and from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service's Health Resources Services Administration. Disclosure: None. Disclaimer: None.
PY - 2017/2/1
Y1 - 2017/2/1
N2 - Objective: To examine what different types of employers value in hiring community health workers (CHWs) and determine what new competencies CHWs might need to meet workforce demands in the context of an evolving payment landscape and substantial literature suggesting that CHWs are uniquely qualified to address health disparities. Study Design: We used a multimethod approach, including a literature review, development of a database of 76 programs, interviews with 24 key informants, and a qualitative comparison of major CHW competency lists. Principal Findings: We find a shift in CHW employment settings from community-based organizations to hospitals/health systems. Providers that hire CHWs directly, as opposed to partnering with community organizations, report that they value education and training more highly than traditional characteristics, such as peer status. We find substantial similarities across competency lists, but a gap in competencies that relate to CHWs’ ability to integrate into health systems while maintaining their unique identity. Conclusions: As CHW integration into health care organizations advances, and as states move forward with CHW certification efforts, it is important to develop new competencies that relate to CHW–health system integration. Chief among them is the ability to explain and defend the CHW's unique occupational identity.
AB - Objective: To examine what different types of employers value in hiring community health workers (CHWs) and determine what new competencies CHWs might need to meet workforce demands in the context of an evolving payment landscape and substantial literature suggesting that CHWs are uniquely qualified to address health disparities. Study Design: We used a multimethod approach, including a literature review, development of a database of 76 programs, interviews with 24 key informants, and a qualitative comparison of major CHW competency lists. Principal Findings: We find a shift in CHW employment settings from community-based organizations to hospitals/health systems. Providers that hire CHWs directly, as opposed to partnering with community organizations, report that they value education and training more highly than traditional characteristics, such as peer status. We find substantial similarities across competency lists, but a gap in competencies that relate to CHWs’ ability to integrate into health systems while maintaining their unique identity. Conclusions: As CHW integration into health care organizations advances, and as states move forward with CHW certification efforts, it is important to develop new competencies that relate to CHW–health system integration. Chief among them is the ability to explain and defend the CHW's unique occupational identity.
KW - Determinants of health/population health/socioeconomic causes of health
KW - health care organizations and systems
KW - health workforce: distribution/incomes/training
KW - integrated delivery systems
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U2 - 10.1111/1475-6773.12657
DO - 10.1111/1475-6773.12657
M3 - Article
C2 - 28127766
AN - SCOPUS:85010840192
VL - 52
SP - 360
EP - 382
JO - Health Services Research
JF - Health Services Research
SN - 0017-9124
ER -