BookJulie Ann St. John, Susan L. Mayfield-Johnson, Wandy D. Hernández-Gordon, editors.
Summary: Community health workers (CHWs) are an increasingly important member of the healthcare and public health professions who help build primary care capacity. Yet, in spite of the exponential growth of CHW interventions, CHW training programs, and CHW certification and credentialing by state agencies, a gap persists in the literature regarding current CHW roles and skills, scope of practice, CHW job settings, and national standards. This collection of contributions addresses this gap by providing information, in a single volume, about CHWs, the roles CHWs play as change agents in their communities, integration of CHWs into healthcare teams, and support and recognition of the CHW profession. The book supports the CHW definition as defined by the American Public Health Association (APHA), Community Health Worker Section (2013), which states, "A community health worker is a frontline public health worker who is a trusted member of and/or has an unusually close understanding of the community served." The scope of the text follows the framework of the nationally recognized roles of CHWs that came out of a national consensus-building project called "The Community Health Worker (CHW) Core Consensus (C3) Project". Topics explored among the chapters include: Cultural Mediation Among Individuals, Communities, and Health and Social Service Systems Care Coordination, Case Management, and System Navigation Advocating for Individuals and Communities Building Individual and Community Capacity Implementing Individual and Community Assessments Participating in Evaluation and Research Uniting the Workforce: Building Capacity for a National Association of Community Health Workers Promoting the Health of the Community is a must-have resource for CHWs, those interested in CHW scope of practice and/or certification/credentialing, anyone interested in becoming a CHW, policy-makers, CHW payer systems, CHW supervisors, CHW employers, CHW instructors/trainers, CHW advocates/supporters, and communities served by CHWs.
Contents:
Introduction: Why community health workers (CHWs)?
THe community health worker cor consensus (C3) project story: confirming core roles and skills of community health workers
Roles, skills, and qualities of community health workers
Describing results from the "Promoting the health of the community" national needs assessment
Cultural mediation among individuals, communities, and health and social service systems
Providing culturally appropriate health education and information
Care coordination, case management, and system navigation
Providing coaching and social support
Advocating for individuals and communities
Building individual and community capacity
Providing direct services
Implementing individual and community assessments
Conducting outreach
Participating in evaluation and research
Uniting the workforce: building capacity for a national association of community health workers
Where do we go from here? a closing reflection.