Community Health Workers Can Be a Public Health Force for Change in the United States: Three Actions for a New Paradigm
Open accessAbstract
Community health workers (CHWs) have gained increased visibility in the United States. We discuss how to strengthen the roles of CHWs to enable them to become collaborative leaders in dramatically changing health care from "sickness care" systems to systems that provide comprehensive care for individuals and families and supports community and tribal wellness. We recommend drawing on the full spectrum of CHWs' roles so that they can make optimal contributions to health systems and the building of community capacity for health and wellness. We also urge that CHWs be integrated into "community health teams" as part of "medical homes" and that evaluation frameworks be improved to better measure community wellness and systems change.
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CHWs share lived experiences with the communities they serve, creating a vital bridge between healthcare systems and patient populations.
“CHWs share lived experiences with the communities they serve, creating a vital bridge between healthcare systems and patient populations.14,15”
From Barriers and Facilitators to the Implementation of a Health-Related Social Needs Screening and Referral Intervention in the Bronx (2025) · cites this paper as [15]
The strength of CHWs lies within their shared life experiences with the community members they serve, which fosters trust with patients.
“The strength of CHWs lies within their shared life experiences with the community members they serve, which fosters trust with patients. 15”
From Barriers and Facilitators to the Implementation of a Health-Related Social Needs Screening and Referral Intervention in the Bronx (2025) · cites this paper as [15]
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References 24 · Cited by 266
Research works printed but not linked: 17
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- Authors
- Balcazar, H., Lee Rosenthal, E., Nell Brownstein, J., Rush, C. H., Matos, S., & Hernandez, L.
- Affiliations
- Hector Balcazar is with the Health Science Center Houston, El Paso Regional Campus, University of Texas School of Public Health, El Paso. Lee E. Rosenthal is with the College of Health Sciences, University of Texas, El Paso. Nell J. Brownstein is with the Division of the Prevention of Heart Disease and Stroke, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA. Carl H Rush is with the Community Resources LLC, San Antonio, Texas....
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (US)
- Venue
- American Journal of Public Health
- Publisher
- American Public Health Association
- Published
- 2011-12
- Volume
- 101
- Issue
- 12
- Pages
- 2199-2203
- ISSN
- 0090-0036 (ISSN-L)
- 1541-0048
- PMC
- PMC3222447
- OpenAlex
- W1965423168
- Cited by
- 266
- References
- 24
- Citations by year
- 2026: 16 · 2025: 21 · 2024: 15 · 2023: 24 · 2022: 16 · 2021: 23 · 2020: 16 · 2019: 18 · 2018: 19 · 2017: 26 · 2016: 13 · 2015: 20 · 2014: 14 · 2013: 17 · 2012: 8
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- American Journal of Public Health (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institutes of Health
- National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (R24MD001785, R24 MD0001785-01)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Community Health and Development
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Public Health Policies and Education
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Nursing Roles and Practices
- Keywords
- community health workers, community health teams, patient-centered medical home, health system transformation, comprehensive care, community wellness, community capacity building, evaluation framework, health workforce roles
- MeSH terms
- Workforce, Community Health Workers, Community Health Services, Delivery of Health Care, Humans, Public Health Administration, United States, Health Care Reform, Patient-Centered Care
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