A newly published report developed by a group of partners, including Sanofi, shines a light on the far-reaching impacts of well-funded community health worker (CHW) programs.
CHWs are public health professionals who connect the communities they serve with needed health and social services. Titled “Strengthening Public Health with Community Health Workers,” the report was released Tuesday, amid the annual National Community Health Worker Awareness Week.
The report was compiled based on interviews with CHWs and their partner organizations and, according to its authors, “isn’t meant to be another generalized, awareness-raising gesture for CHWs. It’s meant to spotlight where CHWs are effectively integrated into their communities while being paid in sustainable ways so these models can continue to be funded and expanded.”
The report includes descriptions of how CHWs can improve public health, lists examples of “highly effective” programs across the U.S. that are making an impact and offers tips for integrating CHWs into community health initiatives, emphasizing the importance of consistent financial support for the work.
Interspersed throughout are testimonials from leaders of CHW groups explaining their work, with a specific focus on the topic of securing funding for their programs and fair pay for CHWs.
“Sanofi has a long history of supporting the CHW workforce,” Barb Short, the pharma’s senior director of sustainability and corporate social responsibility, said in Tuesday’s announcement.
“The extensive listening that informs this report reinforces that a unified, supported U.S. CHW workforce is critical to public health,” Short continued. “It also sharpens the point that where true, local investment in and partnership with CHWs is sustained, some of the brightest examples of community health are seen.”
Along with Sanofi, the report’s other authors include the nonprofit National Association of CHWs, executive membership community NationSwell and digital health company Atlas Clarity.