Community Health

How a Primary Care-Based Housing Instability Program Cut Outpatient Utilization

February 6, 2024 - A community health worker-led program to address housing instability was effective at reducing primary care and outpatient care overutilization, proving that addressing the social determinant of health can pay off in clinical quality outcomes, according to a new study in Health Affairs. The report, completed by researchers from Brigham and...

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Montefiore’s Community Health Worker Role a Bridge to Medical Workforce

by Sara Heath

At Montefiore Medical Center, the Community Health Worker Institute (CHWI) is a pipeline to the healthcare workforce. Sure, the actual “community health worker,” or CHW, title is an entry-level job, but it’s a key...

What Is a Community Health Needs Assessment?

by Sara Heath

A community health needs assessment (CHNA), sometimes called a community health assessment, is foundational for nonprofit healthcare organizations and a vital tool for hospitals and health systems working to improve population and public...

Community Health Centers Hunker Down as Government Shutdown Looms

by Sara Heath

Funding packages continue to stall in Congress, making a government shutdown more inevitable and leaving community health centers across the nation in the lurch. As of publishing time, the US still doesn’t have a way to fund...

What Are The Top Social Determinants of Health Screening Tools?

by Sara Heath

In order to address the social factors impacting patient well-being, healthcare organizations foremost need validated social determinants of health screening tools to uncover those social needs. SDOH screening can happen using a few...

MI Repurposes COVID Test Sites for Community Health Worker Care Access

by Sarai Rodriguez

As the United States nears the end of its COVID-19 emergency declarations, Michigan's Health Department has repurposed old COVID-19 testing sites for a pilot program, leveraging community health...

Community Support Counters Racism Affecting Maternal Health Experience

by Sarai Rodriguez

Involving community support persons in the birthing experience can counter obstetric racism impacting the maternal health experience for Black mothers. This approach contributes to safer hospital...

How Civic Engagement, Infrastructure Impact Community Health

by Sara Heath

Getting into civics class might improve community health, with the latest County Health Rankings showing a link between civic engagement and community health. The rankings, completed by the University...

How Community-Based Strategies Reduced Opioid Overdose Deaths

by Sara Heath

The University of Pittsburgh’s community-based strategy for reducing opioid deaths has helped counties across the state fortify public health, boost patient access to care, and ultimately,...

How Community Health Workers Support Chronic Disease Management

by Sara Heath

A new study from the NYU Grossman School of Medicine shows how community health workers helped patients achieve optimal blood pressure control, underscoring the role these non-clinical workers play in...

$400K Grant Assists Community-Based Orgs in Addressing Social Determinants

by Sarai Rodriguez

organizations to reduce social determinants of health barriers in under-resourced areas. The American Heart Association, through its Social Impact Fund, will invest $400,000 in two Utah...

Key Traits of Successful Pediatric Obesity Prevention Programs

by Sara Heath

The most successful pediatric obesity prevention programs take place over a stretch of time and seek to promote both access to more nutritious foods and more exercise, findings that researchers from...

Cleveland Clinic Opens Center for Infant and Maternal Health

by Sara Heath

The Cleveland Clinic has launched the Center for Infant and Maternal Health, an initiative designed to address maternal and infant mortality by way of community health partnerships and investment in...

How Community Health Workers Support Hearing Loss Intervention

by Sara Heath

Listen up: a new program out of the Johns Hopkins Cochlear Center for Hearing and Public Health shows that community health workers can effectively connect low-income seniors with hearing aids. The...

Accountable Health Communities Grant Cut Healthcare Utilization

by Sarai Rodriguez

By implementing a cross-sector community health program to address a communitywide social determinant of health, Reading Hospital, an Accountable Health Communities (AHC) model grantee, addressed food...

Public Health Messaging, Equity Key to Getting Flu Shots in Arms

by Sara Heath

The US will need to leverage strong public health messaging if it plans to increase rates of flu shots and combat the racial health disparities in flu vaccination and hospitalization that has plagued...

Lessons Learned from Culturally Tailored Community-Based Health

by Sara Heath

Much has been made of the potential for community-based health to close racial health disparities, but new research in JAMA Network Open says those community programs are most effective when they are...

Medicaid Community Health Workers Cut Emergency Department Utilization

by Sarai Rodriguez

Medicaid community health workers facilitated better care access for low-income patients by boosting reliance on outpatient care and decreasing avoidable emergency department utilization, according to...

Tips for Designing Community Health Worker Training Programs

by Sara Heath

The role of the community health worker is becoming more prominent, but that’s leaving some healthcare organizations and public health agencies with a big question. How do they design community health worker training...

Considerations for Recruiting, Hiring Community Health Workers

by Sara Heath

As team-based care becomes more common in medical practice, healthcare organizations are considering how they invest in non-clinician personnel, like recruiting and hiring community health workers. A community health worker is “a...