scholarly journals Community Health Workers: An Integral Part of an Integrated Health Care Team

2016 ◽  
Vol 77 (2) ◽  
pp. 129-130 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Nelson ◽  
E. B. Money ◽  
R. Petersen
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Community Health ◽  
Community Health Workers ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Health Care Team ◽  
Integrated Health Care ◽  
Care Team ◽  
Integrated Health

scholarly journals A Participatory Curricula for Community Health Workers and Supervisors to Increase HIV Health Outcomes

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Serena Rajabiun ◽  
Allyson Baughman ◽  
Marena Sullivan ◽  
Beth Poteet ◽  
Alicia Downes ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Primary Care ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Community Health ◽  
Community Health Workers ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Care Team ◽  
Specific Content ◽  
Training And Supervision ◽  
Training Approach ◽  
Care And Treatment

Community Health Workers (CHWs) are becoming essential members of the HIV workforce as emerging evidence demonstrates their effectiveness in engaging people with HIV into care and treatment. In 2018, among the estimated 37,000 persons who received an HIV diagnosis, the majority were from racial ethnic minority communities. CHWs serve as a bridge between the community and health care system and have the potential to address structural inequities and reduce the stigma, discrimination and other barriers that prevent people with HIV from seeking and staying in care and treatment. Effective CHW integration into the HIV primary care team requires a training and supervision system that is culturally responsive to the complex social and medical needs of people with HIV. This article describes a comprehensive training approach and curricula for CHWs and supervisors and its impact on the health care team. Grounded in a Popular Education model and using the CHW core consensus competency (C3) framework, a team of experts in HIV, training and supervision, including CHWs working in HIV care and treatment developed an 80-h CHW and 20-h supervisor curricula. The trainings were delivered via in-person and virtual sessions over the course of 2 years. Using a mixed method evaluation, 23 CHWs and 22 supervisors across 10 clinic sites in eight states participated in the training sessions. Measures included knowledge and confidence related to HIV-specific content, supporting clients with managing stigma and discrimination, ability to communicate with other team members and helping clients navigate the services system. CHWs reported improved skills with documentation in the electronic health record, helping clients with treatment adherence challenges and educating on lab results. Supervisors reported learning strategies for assigning clients to CHWs, self-care techniques, providing strengths-based feedback, and mentoring and coaching. The participatory practice-based curricula allowed supervisors and CHWs to share experiences and solicit input from peers for problem resolution and implementation of new policies and practices. This training approach focused on HIV specific content with core competency training could serve as a model for CHWs working in primary care settings and with populations experiencing multiple chronic health conditions and social needs.

Bringing Community Health Workers into the Mainstream of U.S. Health Care

2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary Pittman ◽  
Anne Sunderland ◽  
Andrew Broderick ◽  
Kevin Barnett
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Community Health ◽  
Community Health Workers ◽  
Health Workers

scholarly journals Brazil’s Community Health Workers Practicing Narrative Medicine: Patients’ Perspectives

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rogério Meireles Pinto ◽  
Rahbel Rahman ◽  
Margareth Santos Zanchetta ◽  
W. Galhego-Garcia
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Community Health ◽  
Community Health Workers ◽  
Health Care Providers ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Hybrid Approach ◽  
Narrative Medicine ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
Patient Perspectives ◽  
Care Providers

Abstract Background Narrative medicine (NM) encourages health care providers to draw on their personal experiences to establish therapeutic alliances with patients of prevention and care services. NM medicine practiced by nurses and physicians has been well documented, yet there is little understanding of how community health workers (CHWs) apply NM concepts in their day-to-day practices from patient perspectives. Objective To document how CHWs apply specific NM concepts in Brazil’s Family Health Strategy (FHS), the key component of Brazil’s Unified Health System. Design We used a semi-structured interview, grounded in Charon’s (2001) framework, including four types of NM relationships: provider–patient, provider–colleague, provider–society, and provider–self. A hybrid approach of thematic analysis was used to analyze data from 27 patients. Key Results Sample: 18 females; 13 White, 12 “Pardo” (mixed races), 12 Black. We found: (1) provider–patient relationship—CHWs offered health education through compassion, empathy, trustworthiness, patience, attentiveness, jargon-free communication, and altruism; (2) provider–colleague relationship—CHWs lacked credibility as perceived by physicians, impacting their effectiveness negatively; (3) provider–society relationship—CHWs mobilized patients civically and politically to advocate for and address emerging health care and prevention needs; (4) provider–self relationship—patients identified possible low self-esteem among CHWs and a need to engage in self-care practices to abate exhaustion from intense labor and lack of resources. Conclusion This study adds to patient perspectives on how CHWs apply NM concepts to build and sustain four types of relationships. Findings suggest the need to improve provider–colleague relationships by ongoing training to foster cooperation among FHS team members. More generous organizational supports (wellness initiatives and supervision) may facilitate the provider–self relationship. Public education on CHWs’ roles is needed to enhance the professional and societal credibility of their roles and responsibilities. Future research should investigate how CHWs’ personality traits may influence their ability to apply NM.

scholarly journals Knowledge and attitudes of tuberculosis management in San Juan de Lurigancho district of Lima, Peru

2009 ◽  
Vol 3 (10) ◽  
pp. 783-788 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth M. Kiefer ◽  
Theresa Shao ◽  
Olveen Carrasquillo ◽  
Pamela Nabeta ◽  
Carlos Seas
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Community Health ◽  
Community Health Workers ◽  
Health Care Providers ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Knowledge Score ◽  
San Juan ◽  
Care Providers ◽  
Knowledge Gaps ◽  
Knowledge And Attitudes

Background: Expansion of the health care workforce in Peru to combat tuberculosis (TB) includes both professional health care providers (HCPs) such as doctors and nurses, and non-professional HCPs such as community health workers (CHWs). We describe the knowledge and attitudes of these HCPs, and identify modifiable barriers to appropriate anti-tuberculosis treatment.  Methodology: We surveyed HCPs practicing in 30 clinical settings (hospitals, community health centers, and health posts) in the San Juan de Lurigancho district of Eastern Lima, Peru. Multiple-choice questions were used to assess knowledge of TB. A five-item Likert scale was created to assess attitudes toward the community, patients, and clinics. Linear regression was used to identify predictors of mean knowledge score, and analysis of variance was used to test differences in HCP score.  Results: Of the 73 HCPs surveyed, 15% were professionals (doctors or nurses). The remaining 85% were health technicians, community health workers (CHWs) or students. The mean knowledge score was 10.0 ± 1.9 (maximum 14) with professional HCPs scoring higher than other HCPs (11.7 ± 1.1 vs. 9.7 ± 1.9), p < .01). Knowledge gaps included identification of patients at high risk for TB, assessment of treatment outcomes, and consequences of treatment failure. The most commonly cited modifiable barriers were structural, including laboratory facilities and staffing of TB clinics, with 52.1% and 62.5% of HCPs, respectively, citing these as problematic.  Conclusions: Efforts to improve knowledge of TB HCPs in Peru should focus on the specific gaps we have identified. Further research is needed to evaluate whether these knowledge gaps correlate with TB control.     

Authors’ Commentary: Domestic Violence Against Women, Public Policies and Community Health Workers in Brazilian Primary Health Care

2019 ◽  
Vol 40 (3) ◽  
pp. 237-239
Author(s):  
Marcos Signorelli ◽  
Angela Taft ◽  
Pedro Paulo Gomes Pereira
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Domestic Violence ◽  
Primary Health Care ◽  
Community Health ◽  
Community Health Workers ◽  
Health Professionals ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Family Health ◽  
Further Education ◽  
Primary Health

In this commentary paper, we highlight the key role that community health workers and family health professionals can perform for the identification and care for women experiencing domestic violence in communities. These workers are part of the primary health-care strategy in the Brazilian public health system, who are available in every municipalities and neighborhoods of the country. Based on our ethnographic research, we argue that identification and care of abused women by these workers and professionals follow a pattern which we described and named “the Chinese whispers model.” We also point gaps in training these workers to deal with complex issues, such as domestic violence, arguing for the need of formal qualification for both community health workers and family health professionals by, for example, incorporating such themes into curricula, further education, and continuing professional development.

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