TY - JOUR
T1 - Community Health Representative Workforce
T2 - Meeting the Moment in American Indian Health Equity
AU - Sabo, Samantha
AU - O'Meara, Louisa
AU - Russell, Kim
AU - Hemstreet, Corey
AU - Nashio, J. T.
AU - Bender, Brook
AU - Hamilton, Joyce
AU - Begay, Mae Gilene
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© Copyright © 2021 Sabo, O'Meara, Russell, Hemstreet, Nashio, Bender, Hamilton and Begay.
PY - 2021/7/21
Y1 - 2021/7/21
N2 - In 2018, the Community Health Representative (CHR) workforce celebrated their 50th year and serve as the oldest and only federally funded Community Health Worker (CHW) workforce in the United States. CHRs are a highly trained, well-established standardized workforce serving the medical and social needs of American Indian communities. Nationally, the CHR workforce consists of ~1,700 CHRs, representing 264 Tribes. Of the 22 Tribes of Arizona, 19 Tribes operate a CHR Program and employ ~250 CHRs, equivalent to ~30% of the total CHW workforce in the state. Since 2015, Tribal CHR Programs of Arizona have come together for annual CHR Policy Summits to dialogue and plan for the unique issues and opportunities facing CHR workforce sustainability and advancement. Overtime, the Policy Summits have resulted in the Arizona CHR Workforce Movement, which advocates for inclusion of CHRs in state and national level dialogue regarding workforce standardization, certification, training, supervision, and financing. This community case study describes the impetus, collaborative process, and selected results of a 2019–2020 multi-phase CHR workforce assessment. Specifically, we highlight CHR core roles and competencies, contributions to the social determinant of health and well-being and the level to which CHRs are integrated within systems and teams. We offer recommendations for strengthening the workforce, increasing awareness of CHR roles and competencies, integrating CHRs within teams and systems, and mechanism for sustainability.
AB - In 2018, the Community Health Representative (CHR) workforce celebrated their 50th year and serve as the oldest and only federally funded Community Health Worker (CHW) workforce in the United States. CHRs are a highly trained, well-established standardized workforce serving the medical and social needs of American Indian communities. Nationally, the CHR workforce consists of ~1,700 CHRs, representing 264 Tribes. Of the 22 Tribes of Arizona, 19 Tribes operate a CHR Program and employ ~250 CHRs, equivalent to ~30% of the total CHW workforce in the state. Since 2015, Tribal CHR Programs of Arizona have come together for annual CHR Policy Summits to dialogue and plan for the unique issues and opportunities facing CHR workforce sustainability and advancement. Overtime, the Policy Summits have resulted in the Arizona CHR Workforce Movement, which advocates for inclusion of CHRs in state and national level dialogue regarding workforce standardization, certification, training, supervision, and financing. This community case study describes the impetus, collaborative process, and selected results of a 2019–2020 multi-phase CHR workforce assessment. Specifically, we highlight CHR core roles and competencies, contributions to the social determinant of health and well-being and the level to which CHRs are integrated within systems and teams. We offer recommendations for strengthening the workforce, increasing awareness of CHR roles and competencies, integrating CHRs within teams and systems, and mechanism for sustainability.
KW - American Indian/Alaska native
KW - community health representative
KW - community health worker
KW - health systems
KW - scope of practice
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85111939393&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85111939393&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3389/fpubh.2021.667926
DO - 10.3389/fpubh.2021.667926
M3 - Article
C2 - 34368048
AN - SCOPUS:85111939393
SN - 2296-2565
VL - 9
JO - Frontiers in Public Health
JF - Frontiers in Public Health
M1 - 667926
ER -