Community Health Outreach Workers Concept Paper

Explains the need for CHWs as bridges between communities and health care delivery systems. These people are first and foremost, members of the community and of the at-risk population most in need of health care services. The challenge is not to prove their theoretical viability, but to demonstrate how they can be most effectively incorporated into the complex delivery and financing schemes of US health care. The success of this translational research can provide a foundation for a revitalized health care system that has the potential to keep the public healthy in 2020.