NCHH Releases New Video for NASHP CHW Maps Training
Media Contact: Christopher Bloom, 443.539.4154, cbloom@nchh.org
COLUMBIA, MD (October 19, 2018) — The National Center for Healthy Housing (NCHH), long recognized as a leader in building and sustaining a healthy homes workforce, is pleased to announce a new instructional video to facilitate use of the interactive State Community Health Worker Models maps prepared by the National Academy of State Health Policies (NASHP).
Community health workers (CHW) are frontline workers who are trusted members of and/or have a unique and intimate understanding of the communities they serve. States have turned to CHWs to facilitate care coordination, enhance access to community-based services, and address the social determinants of health; but there are many variations in the ways that these workers are funded, trained, and deliver services to their communities, and even more variation in their involvement in healthy homes.
NASHP, with NCHH’s and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation’s support, conducted a survey in 2017 to highlight state policies related to CHWs’ role, certification, and sources of funding. The survey and its corresponding interactive map offers users the opportunity to focus on the policies of individual states, as well as to compare states on key issues, such as scope of practice and the organizational networks and agencies that support CHWs. A special supplemental survey captures CHW roles in asthma education and trigger management and lead poisoning prevention. It also highlights variations in the use of Medicaid and other funding to support that work.
As NCHH’s contribution to National Health Education Week, the short video helps visitors navigate the rich data provided through the State Community Health Worker Models website. For each of the eight categories – financing, education, certification, state CHW legislation, organizations and workgroup, CHW roles in state, and state agencies – the video highlights different tools and practice models that advocates can use to improve the use of CHWs in their states. Watch the video below.