SINAI Urban Health Institute
Research / Evaluation
Project:Community Health Worker Programs in Chicago’s Health Care Institutions: Research and Evaluation
| Introduction: | Project Summary CHWs are indigenous, trusted, and respected members of the community they are serving. They function as a bridge between their peers and health professionals. Still, CHWs are underutilized and underfunded due in part to a lack of understanding of the CHW concept and a lack of evaluation confirming the effectiveness of CHWs. The proposed project aims to clearly delineate CHW effectiveness and best practices in terms of evidence-based science. The project will answer research and evaluation questions posed throughout the CHW field. Questions will be addressed in collaboration with a number of health care intuitions located on Chicago’s Westside who utilize CHWs in their health care setting. Data will be collected via surveys, interviews, meetings, and CHW shadowing with each of these institutions. We will then synthesize and analyze the information collected to produce two important contributions: 1. Best Practice Guidelines for the Use of CHWs in Health Care Settings; and, 2. Standardized process and outcome evaluation tools for CHW programs being implemented in health care setting We believe this research will not only assist local health care institutions in improving their health programs and outreach to communities, but also improve their capacity for evaluation. This will ultimately lead to program improvements, improved patient outcomes, and standardize evaluation measures used in CHW programs and research. |
| Project plan: | The project’s goals are to gather information from health care settings located on the Westside of Chicago to answer the following four questions: 1. How are CHWs being utilized in a range of distinct health care settings ( e.g., FQHCs; hospitals; primary care settings; specialty care; emergency department; in-patient clinics) and are CHWs effective in these roles? 2. What training modules are available and utilized in preparing CHWs for their roles within health care organizations? 3. Are there CHW models that show greater promise, based on the available evidence, for improving health outcomes for particular diseases and particular populations? 4. What are the cost savings associated with using CHWs? How do these cost savings emerge (i.e., are CHWs supplementing the activities of health care professionals thereby enhancing their productivity; are improved health outcomes resulting in lower health care costs?)? |
| Contact information: | For more information or to participate in this study, please contact Melissa Gutierrez Kapheim at 773-257-5258 or suhi@sinai.org |
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