{"id":3846,"date":"2022-03-25T15:01:27","date_gmt":"2022-03-25T21:01:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/healthfund.org\/a\/?p=3846"},"modified":"2022-05-05T15:25:33","modified_gmt":"2022-05-05T21:25:33","slug":"webinar-community-health-workers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/healthfund.org\/a\/webinar-community-health-workers\/","title":{"rendered":"Webinar: Community Health Workers &#8211; Strengths, Challenges, Opportunities"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a id=\"_msocom_1\"><\/a>The American health care system is <a href=\"https:\/\/physiciansfoundation.org\/physician-and-patient-surveys\/the-physicians-foundation-2019-patient-survey\/\">expensive and difficult for patients to navigate<\/a>. Even insured patients worry about the costs of care. Most patients believe providers should consider if <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/socialdeterminants\/index.htm\">social determinants of health<\/a> are impacting patients\u2019 health, such as concerns regarding food, housing or transportation. <\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Community health workers (CHWs) address patient health care struggles and are an important part of a patient\u2019s experience. CHWs bridge the gap between patients and providers, explaining what providers mean and what the next steps are. They connect patients with resources and help them overcome obstacles to seeking care, such as transportation or a lack of insurance. Health care organizations are realizing the importance of investing in CHWs.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Webinar: <strong>Community Health Workers \u2013 Strengths, Challenges, Opportunities<\/strong><\/strong><\/h3>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\r\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Webinar: Community Health Workers \u2013 Strengths, Challenges, Opportunities\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ECMjymONfSs?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\r\n<\/div><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Community health workers (CHWs) play an important but little-known role in health care. The Health Fund hosted a webinar on April 21, 2022 focused on CHW certification as well as <a href=\"https:\/\/healthfund.org\/a\/community-health-workers-ks\/\">strengths, challenges, and opportunities for community health workers in Kansas<\/a>.  The webinar can be viewed at the link above.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The webinar included:<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Sarah Jolley of Wichita State University shared findings from a research report on the role of community health workers in health care<\/li><li>Kansas Department of Health and Environment detailed its CHW project and the new CHW certification<\/li><li>Community health workers and employers spoke on the role CHWs play in patient care<\/li><\/ul>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Resources:<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><a href=\"https:\/\/healthfund.org\/a\/wp-content\/uploads\/20220421-CHW-webinar-slides.pdf\">CHW webinar slides<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/kschw.org\/certification\/\">CHW certification information<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/healthfund.org\/a\/kansas-community-health-workers\/\">CHW research and stories<\/a><\/li><\/ul>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Hear their stories<\/strong><\/h3>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To increase awareness of the value of community health workers, the Health Fund and the Wichita State University Community Engagement Institute have produced a <a href=\"https:\/\/healthfund.org\/a\/kansas-community-health-workers\/\">series of short videos<\/a>&nbsp;highlighting the role of community health workers and their contributions to addressing chronic conditions, health accessibility, and health outcomes. The videos also discuss the importance of reimbursement of services and the return on investment to organizations.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>The importance of CHWs<\/strong><\/h4>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Community health workers bridge the gap between the client and health care provider. Medical information can be confusing or even intimidating. Interpreting medical information for patients influences health outcomes.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/3gRTwciuqL0\">Community health workers<\/a> are the point where health care sort of ends traditionally and extends out into the community or even their home,\u201d said Dennis Dunmyer, COO of KC CARE Health Center. \u201cThey help people understand a lot of what the other health care professionals are saying and they help translate for our patients what the next steps are.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Providers agree that including community health workers in care teams helps patients achieve better outcomes.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI really think that every health care team and every community-based organization team could <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/8xvHp17Fu_s\">benefit from having a community health worker present<\/a>. I see that my patients are able to follow up with instructions, they are able to get more resources, [and] they are able to live healthier lives because of what our community health workers do,\u201d said Erin Corriveau, MD, University of Kansas Health System.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Community health workers help patients manage chronic conditions.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cA lot of times people with <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/zR2W6TNbsV4\">chronic conditions<\/a> don\u2019t actually feel bad\u2026so it\u2019s confusing as to why they have to take medication every day when they feel fine or why they have to see the doctor a few times a year,\u201d said Dunmyer. \u201cCommunity health workers can help a lot with education and help people understand why those things are important.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOne of the main focuses of community health workers is how can we prevent this condition or this situation from ending up in the ER or urgent care,\u201d said Kevin Ochoa, a community health worker. \u201cThat all starts with showing our clients how to <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/EjhBsI8cWHg\">self-manage their chronic conditions<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A 2020 study at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pennmedicine.org\/news\/news-releases\/2020\/february\/penns-community-health-worker-program-yields-247-for-every-1-invested-annually-by-medicaid\">Penn Medicine<\/a> found each dollar invested in their CHW program would have a $2.47 return on investment to an average Medicaid payer within the fiscal year. Although CHWs bring great value, a barrier to including CHWs on the health care team is reimbursement. &nbsp;<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cFor this type of work to continue and to be sustainable, it is <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/8G-80YD0z30\">critically important to be reimbursed by payers<\/a>. There have been a number of studies that have demonstrated a return on investment,\u201d said Karen Braman, senior vice president of the Kansas Hospital Association. \u201cIt really is critical that community health worker services be reimbursed so they can take advantage of this additional layer of services for patients.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a id=\"_msocom_1\"><\/a><\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The American health care system is expensive and difficult for patients to navigate. Even insured patients worry about the costs of care. Most patients believe providers should consider if social determinants of health are impacting patients\u2019 health, such as concerns regarding food, housing or transportation. Community health workers (CHWs) address patient health care struggles and &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":3801,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[69,71,68,70],"class_list":["post-3846","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health-news","tag-chw","tag-community-health-worker-webinar","tag-community-health-workers","tag-kansas-chw"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthfund.org\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3846","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthfund.org\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthfund.org\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthfund.org\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthfund.org\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3846"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/healthfund.org\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3846\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4111,"href":"https:\/\/healthfund.org\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3846\/revisions\/4111"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthfund.org\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3801"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthfund.org\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3846"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthfund.org\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3846"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthfund.org\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3846"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}