Health Start Program Evaluation Impact Report

The purpose of this evaluation is to assess the impact of the Health Start Program, Arizona’s longstanding community health worker (CHW) intervention, on maternal and child health (MCH) outcomes. Key findings included: Participation in the Health Start Program during 2006 to 2016 is associated with statistically significant decreases in adverse birth outcomes and increases in prenatal care attendance for most subgroups, compared to their matched controls, and is associated with statistically significant higher immunization rates across all subgroups, compared to their matched controls. Recommendations including integrating CHWs as a cost-effective healthcare workforce in community-based and clinical settings, supporting CHWs as primary interventionist, providing CHWs with additional resources and training to support their capacity to connect with each client more frequently during pregnancy, develop and expand transportation assistance to all Health Start Program sites, and strengthen education topics covered by CHWs.