title: Community health workers for patients with medical and behavioral health needs - Challenges and opportunities.
abstract: Behavioral health integration efforts often focus on the formal health care infrastructure. We performed a non-systematic literature review and expert interviews to identify community-based interventions for patients with medical and behavioral health needs. Community Health Workers (CHWs) are the dominant intervention to support patients outside of the clinic. These interventions do not always optimally meet patients' needs. Organizations should consider the challenges and benefits of CHWs for patients with medical and behavioral health needs. We outline two challenges to successful CHW programs for this population, propose two design considerations for community-based integration, and suggest how quality improvement methods might help with both challenges.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Healthcare Improvement, 20 University Road, 7th Floor, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
authors.forename: Mara
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Laderman
authors.affiliation: Institute for Healthcare Improvement, 20 University Road, 7th Floor, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA; Weill Cornell Medical School, USA.
authors.forename: Kedar
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Mate
mesh_terms: D003153:Community Health Services; D003150:Community Health Workers / Q000193:education / Q000592:standards*; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D058996:Quality Improvement / Q000592:standards*; D014481:United States; D000078329:Workforce
keywords: Behavioral health integration; Community health workers; Community-based interventions; Quality improvement