Promising Practices for Rural Community Health Worker Programs

This project identified six rural CHW models in the literature and in practice: promotora, member of the care delivery
team, care coordinator, health educator, outreach and enrollment agent, and community organizer and capacity builder. The 330A Outreach Authority grantees offer promising strategies in the areas of program implementation, evaluation, and sustainability. An empowerment approach to evaluation, where CHWs are involved in the evaluation design and learn the results, is
most effective. Key sustainability strategies for CHW
programs are to develop a consortium of community partners that can lend resources and time, and investigate the
feasibility of different fiscal sustainability models such as third party reimbursement for CHW services. Identifying promising practices for rural CHW programs will be important as CHWs continue to play an expanding role in rural health initiatives.