Collections /

Community Health Workers and Promotores de Salud

Community health workers and promotores de salud have long played a vital role in promoting health and well-being, particularly in communities historically not well served by the health care system. The need to expand this important workforce takes on new urgency in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Visit our CHW/P in Workforce in Medi-Cal Resource Center
April 28, 2023

Briefing — California’s Community Health Worker/Promotor/Representative Workforce

Workforce
April 28, 2023
Join CHCF for a Sacramento briefing on April 28, 2023, from noon to 1:30 PM, focused on understanding California's community health worker/promotor/representative workforce.
External Resource

State Policies for Expanding Medicaid Coverage of Community Health Worker (CHW) Services

KFF’s 22nd annual Medicaid budget survey asked states about CHW coverage policies in place as of 7/1/22 planned for FY 2023.
Collection

Understanding California’s Community Health Worker/Promotor Workforce

A new series of reports aims to paint a more complete picture of the community health worker/promoter workforce in California, as well as challenges and opportunities related to training and employment. Reports will be released between the fall of 2022 and summer of 2023.
CHCF Blog

Disaster Service Workers Step Up in Pandemic

January 7, 2022
Aisling Carroll
Homelessness & Health Care, Workforce, Behavioral Health
How local agencies expanded their assistance to Santa Clara County’s unhoused population in the COVID-19 era.
CHCF Blog

With Superheroes and Songs, El Sol’s Promotores Help Vaccinate Inland Empire

December 3, 2021
Ivan Fernandez
Workforce, Health Equity
Community health workers have devoted significant energy to disseminating information about the coronavirus and the vaccines that protect people from it.
Resource

Advancing California’s Community Health Worker & Promotor Workforce in Medi-Cal

Medi-Cal
This Resource Center offers information and tools designed to support managed care plans in integrating community health workers and promotores into their programs.
CHCF Blog

California Poised for Major Expansion of Community Health Workers

August 17, 2021
Rob Waters
Workforce, Medi-Cal
The 2021–22 state budget establishes a community health worker benefit within Medi-Cal.
CHCF Blog

Community Health Workers and Peers Are Essential to Counties’ COVID-19 Response

February 16, 2021
Amanda Clarke, Megan Renfrew, Zoe So
Workforce
CHWs and peers are making vital contributions to communities that have been disproportionately hurt by the pandemic.
CHCF Blog

Coronavirus Contact Tracers: Part Detective, Part Social Worker

August 24, 2020
Xenia Shih Bion
Workforce
Stories That Caught Our Attention: Public health workers are trying to slow the spread of the virus while addressing critical social needs.
External Resource

Training and Supporting Community Health Workers and Promotores: Lessons for California and Other States

The Center for Health Care Strategies led a comprehensive scan of training and certification approaches for Community Health Workers and Promotores (CHW/P). This resulting report outlines a set of training and professional recognition considerations for sustaining a robust CHW/P workforce. While the report shares specific considerations for California, these lessons are also applicable in other states.
CHCF Blog

Could Community Health Workers and Promotores de Salud Help California Respond to COVID-19?

June 4, 2020
Rob Waters
Workforce, Medi-Cal
Meet Tia Aida, a veteran community health worker in Chula Vista, California. She says the pandemic caused a surge in requests for her help.
April 17, 2020

Online Convening — Adapting to COVID-19: Preparing and Supporting Community Health Workers and Promotores

April 17, 2020
This online convening is for those supporting Community Health Workers and Promotores (CHW/Ps) in training and employment environments.
External Resource

Three Workforce Strategies To Help COVID Affected Communities

Workforce

In this Health Affairs blog, Rishi Manchanda outlines three ways state and federal leaders can ramp up a community-based workforce to protect vulnerable communities and augment the efforts of hospitals and public health leaders in the fight against COVID-19.
External Resource

Recognizing and Sustaining the Value of Community Health Workers and Promotores

Workforce

This brief from the Center for Health Care Strategies explores how community health workers and promotores (CHW/Ps) are currently contributing to the health care system both in California and around the country.  It highlights examples of how CHW/P work is financed as well as emerging opportunities to scale and sustain that work within California.
Resource

Community Health Workers & Promotores in the Future of Medi-Cal

Medi-Cal
A project to enhance the capacity of Medi-Cal managed care plans and their partners to deploy community health worker and promotor programs that advance health equity.
CHCF Blog

Supporting the Nontraditional Workforce: Community Health Workers and Promotores

February 18, 2020
Jim Lloyd
Workforce, Medi-Cal
More payers and providers are recognizing the essential role these workers play in supporting patients with complex medical and social needs.
CHCF Blog

‘Trust Our Patients So They Can Trust Us’

September 18, 2019
Xenia Shih Bion
At an Oakland clinic, patients who once lived on the streets are helping to improve care for the unsheltered.
Publication

How to Pay for It: Community Health Workers

November 2018
Laura Hogan, Tracy Macdonald Mendez
Health Care Costs, Payment & Financing
The first in a series, this paper offers a menu of strategies for funding a community health worker in a Transitions Clinic.