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Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Community health workers

State Law Fact Sheet: A Summary of State Community Health Worker Laws
Details the state laws pertaining to community health workers as of June 30, 2016. Includes laws defining scope of practice, team-based care models, reimbursement, and the core certification process.
Date: 2017
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
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Rural Health Networks and Care Coordination: Health Care Innovation in Frontier Communities to Improve Patient Outcomes and Reduce Health Care Costs
Discusses the findings of a single-case, community-based participatory design study in a frontier community in northern Minnesota to determine the effectiveness of developing a community care team focused on collaboration and care coordination to improve patient outcomes and reduce emergency room use.
Author(s): Pat Conway, Heidi Favet, Laurie Hall, Jenny Uhrich, Jeanette Palcher, et al.
Citation: Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved, 27(4A), 91–115
Date: 11/2016
Type: Document
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Innovations in Rural Health System Development: Recruiting and Retaining Maine's Health Care Workforce
Illustrates examples of rural-focused medical education programs to support an adequate supply of physicians in rural Maine. Also, discusses behavioral and oral health workforce development, and promising programs utilizing other types of healthcare workers such as community paramedics and community health workers (CHWs) to increase the availability and accessibility of healthcare in rural Maine and in other rural regions of the U.S.
Author(s): Amanda Burgess, Andrew F. Coburn
Date: 11/2016
Type: Document
Sponsoring organizations: Maine Health Access Foundation, Maine Rural Health Research Center
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Project ECHO's Complex Care Initiative: Building Capacity to Help "Superutilizers" in Underserved Communities
Describes a case study from the University of New Mexico's Project ECHO (Extension for Community Health Outcomes) program, which uses telehealth to support primary care clinicians in underserved areas. Focuses on a project targeting Medicaid beneficiaries with substance abuse and mental health issues, with details on two primary care teams being supported, including one in a rural New Mexico community.
Author(s): Martha Hostetter, Sarah Klein, Douglas McCarthy
Date: 08/2016
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Commonwealth Fund
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Madison Outreach and Services through Telehealth (MOST) Network
Video featuring the Madison Outreach Services through Telehealth (MOST) Network, which serves the Hispanic/Latino population of Brazos Valley, Texas. Highlights their partnership with Texas A&M's Telehealth Counseling Clinic, where doctoral-level students and promotoras connect with patients in remote clinics to offer mental health and substance abuse counseling.
Date: 07/2016
Type: Video/Multimedia
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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Health without Borders
Video featuring the Health without Borders (HwoB) program, which uses promotoras to provide immunizations door-to-door. This approach is popular in Mexico and provides a familiar experience for the immigrants that HwoB serves in Luna County, New Mexico. Transcript available in the video description.
Date: 06/2016
Type: Video/Multimedia
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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Vivir Mejor! (Live Better!)
Video highlighting the Vivir Mejor! (Live Better!) program, a comprehensive, culturally competent diabetes education program for Hispanic/Latino populations in rural Arizona. Features program staff and patients sharing how the program impacted the health of people in the region.
Date: 06/2016
Type: Video/Multimedia
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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Activating Patients for Sustained Chronic Disease Self-Management: Thinking Beyond Clinical Outcomes
Describes the Expanded Health Coaches for Hypertension Control (EHCHC) project to increase the proportion of adults 45 years and older to self-manage their hypertension. Discusses how a primary care practice and a community-based program can work together to improve patient knowledge and support readiness for behavior change through various channels, including the use of trained volunteer community health coaches.
Author(s): Cheryl J. Dye, Joel E. Williams, Janet H. Evatt
Citation: Journal of Primary Care & Community Health, 7(2), 107-112
Date: 04/2016
Type: Document
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Effects of Community-Based Health Worker Interventions to Improve Chronic Disease Management and Care Among Vulnerable Populations: A Systematic Review
Reports on a review of 67 studies evaluating the effectiveness of community-based health workers (CBHWs) as an intervention model for chronic disease management and care among low-income, underserved, and racial and ethnic minority populations at risk for health disparities. Discusses the roles and tasks of CBHWs, the effectiveness of their intervention, their qualifications and training, and the reimbursement and sustainability of CBHWs.
Author(s): Kyounghae Kim, Janet S. Choi, Eunsuk Choi, et al.
Citation: American Journal of Public Health, 106(4), e3–e28
Date: 04/2016
Type: Document
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Understanding Scope and Competencies: A Contemporary Look at the United States Community Health Worker Field
Reports on the progress of the Community Health Worker Core Consensus (C3) Project in developing a national consensus regarding community health worker core roles and competencies. The C3 Advisory Committee charged with developing the standards included representation from urban, rural, and tribal communities.
Author(s): E. Lee Rosenthal, Carl H. Rush, Caitlin G. Allen
Date: 04/2016
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Institute for Health Policy, University of Texas School of Public Health
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