Read the briefConnecticut has hundreds of community health workers, doulas, peer support specialists, recovery coaches, and other workers whose roles center on building relationships and helping people address health and social needs. These workforces can play a key role in improving health outcomes, reducing disparities, and addressing some of the pressures of health care workforce shortages.
This report focuses on four workforces, collectively referred to as health support workers:
- Community health workers, who connect people to culturally appropriate health and social services systems, and help people manage their health conditions.
- Doulas, who support pregnant people and their families during and after childbirth.
- Peer support specialists, who give and receive assistance to achieve long-term recovery from mental illness.
- Recovery coaches, who engage people with substance use disorder and help them take steps toward harm reduction and recovery.
Key findings include:
- Services delivered by community health workers, doulas, recovery coaches, and peer support specialists improve health outcomes, especially for underserved communities. Expanding their use in Connecticut could improve population health and reduce health disparities.
- These services are cost-effective and could lead to savings in the health and social service systems.
- These roles can serve as entry-level professional jobs for people who might face challenges entering the workforce.
- Health support workers can help to reduce the effects of health care worker shortages by serving patients with high needs.
- Connecticut can support these workforces by funding Medicaid coverage for their services and supporting recruitment of people from underserved communities into these roles.
Author: Katharine London