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Community Health Workers
Community Health Workers (CHWs) are a frontline public health worker who is a trusted member of and/or has an unusually close understanding of the community served. This trusting relationship enables the worker to serve as a liaison/link/intermediary between health/social services and the community to facilitate access to services and improve the quality and cultural competence of service delivery.
A CHW also builds individual and community capacity by increasing health knowledge and self-sufficiency through a range of activities such as outreach, community education, informal counseling, social support and advocacy.
CHWs make an impact in Kansas as they decrease challenges that keep everyone from living a healthy life and provide them access to make the healthiest choice the easiest choice.
Train CHWs with knowledge, roles and skills
- Increased, skills/capacity/roles to support COVID-19 public health response and chronic disease prevention.
- Increase reach of Community Health Workers influenced qualification efforts among populations of focus.
- Decrease impact of COVID-19 and chronic disease in high risk populations. Increase community flexibility to respond to COVID-19 and future public health emergencies.
Deploy CHWs to support the COVID-19 public health response.
- Increase workforce of Community Health Workers delivering services to manage spread of COVID-19 and chronic disease prevention.
- Promote and integrate Community Health Workers into existing workforce in focused populations.
- Decrease impact of COVID-19 and chronic disease in high risk populations. Increase community resilience to respond to Covid-19 and future public health emergencies.
Engage CHWs to help build and strengthen community resilience.
- Increase use of community resources and clinical services for those at high risk for poor health outcomes among populations of focus.
- Increase delivery of community resources and clinical services to those at highest risk for poor health outcomes in populations of focus.
- Decrease impact of COVID-19 and chronic disease in high risk populations. Increase community flexibility to respond to COVID-19 and future public health emergencies.