Community Health Workers

Community health workers are frontline public health workers who act as a bridge between their communities and the health care and social service systems. They build trusting relationships and learn about the lives of their clients, the resources and needs of their communities, and the barriers they face to being as healthy as possible. Community health workers are known by many different job titles and have a wide range of responsibilities. Their work can include helping patients navigate the health care and social service systems, providing support to new parents, connecting people to programs that can address their needs, and ensuring patients can follow their care plan.

Community health worker services can improve health outcomes and save money. They improve patient health by addressing non-medical issues that can influence people’s ability to get or stay healthy. For example, a community health worker could help a patient with diabetes learn to cook healthy meals or help the parents of a child with severe asthma learn how to keep their house free of asthma triggers. Research shows that community health worker services can save money by leading patients to use more appropriate health care services or avoid the emergency department. Researchers identified four models that could be implemented in Connecticut and achieve a positive return on investment. These include having community health workers focus on patients with type II diabetes, children with uncontrolled asthma, adults who frequently go to the emergency department, or adults with cardiovascular risk factors.

Community health workers are typically trusted members of a community or people who are able to build trusting relationships with patients. State and national surveys indicate that the vast majority of community health workers are women and most are people of color.

Nearly every state is working on ways to better integrate community health workers into the health care system. One common approach is to create a certification process for community health workers, which can provide potential payers or employers with assurances that community health workers meet standards of training or experience.

Extensive research demonstrates their value, but community health worker services have not yet been fully integrated into the health care system or financed in a sustainable way. In Connecticut, most community health worker programs rely on grant funding, rather than a more stable payment stream through the health care or social service systems. The below reports identify ways to better incorporate community health workers into the health care system, and do so in ways that are sustainable.