Advancing Community Health Through CHWs: Research, Recommendations, and Action
Community Health Workers (CHWs) play a critical role in connecting communities to trusted health information, services, and resources. In this webinar, Health Management Associates (HMA) will present findings from its research examining how health-related information reaches, is interpreted by, and flows through Community Health Workers in Cook County, Illinois. Participants will learn about HMA’s key findings and recommendations for strengthening health information systems, elevating the value of the CHW workforce, and advancing partnerships that support equitable, community-centered care. The session will also highlight opportunities for state agencies, funders, health systems, CHW employers, and community organizations to translate these findings into policy, funding, and practice.
Learning Objectives:
- Describe how health-related information reaches, moves through, and is adapted by Community Health Workers, including where fragmentation, misinformation risks, and service access barriers affect timely and trusted communication.
- Explore how CHWs’ trust-based relationships, cultural and linguistic alignment, lived experience, and community knowledge position them as essential partners in public health communication and community-centered care.
- Identify policy, funding, organizational, and partnership strategies that can strengthen the CHW information ecosystem, including message validation, resource verification, feedback loops, workforce support, and cross-sector coordination.
