Click here for a .pdf presentation "What are Community Health Workers?"

What is a Community Health Worker?

In communities across the country, Community Health Workers are becoming an increasingly important resource to help improve the health of community residents, especially low income groups or persons with chronic health and living concerns.

Community health workers, sometimes known as community health advocates or lay health workers, are typically paraprofessionals who contribute to the health of their communities in many ways. They:

• help residents obtain the health and human/social services they need by:
• linking them with the appropriate community resources
• helping to navigate the systems of services
• providing support and follow up
• promote community participation in health promotion/disease prevention activities
• identify community needs for which there are not available resources
• help to educate providers about community needs and cultural relevance

Community Health Workers (CHW) are a diverse group of people defined by the fact that they live in the community with which they work and demonstrate a sincere interest in the health and welfare of their community through their work with neighborhoods, faith-based organizations and other community groups. National standards for CHWs under development recommend that community health workers be high school graduates or have their GE and, where available, complete a community health training course. Often CHWs are involved in community health education and outreach programs and receive valuable on-the-job training focused in a particular program area.

In Ohio, an example of a CHW program is the Community Health Advocate Program at the Center for Healthy Communities in Dayton. The Combined Health District of Montgomery County also employs Community Health Advocates to assist with program specific education and outreach. Additionally, across the state, some of the Kinship Navigator Programs use community health workers to provide community education.