Strengthening the Community Health Workforce Can Help Improve Healthcare Access for Communities of Color

Strengthening the Community Health Workforce Can Help Improve Healthcare Access for Communities of Color

CHWs play a key role in connecting communities with healthcare in a trusted and culturally competent way—they need to be fully recognized and integrated into health systems.
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The Johnson & Johnson Our Race to Health Equity platform, a $100 million commitment over the next five years, aspires to take on the inequities rooted in systemic racism that threaten health in communities of color across the United States. A key component of the platform focuses on supporting the work of Community Health Workers (CHWs) by partnering with organizations such as the National Association of Community Health Workers (NACHW).
 
As members of the communities they serve, CHWs play a key role in connecting their communities with the healthcare system in a trusted and culturally competent way. Yet they are not fully recognized and integrated into health systems. I sat down with Denise Octavia Smith, MBA, CHW, PN, Executive Director of NACHW to discuss the urgency and importance of the work in this area.
 

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We're excited to see you at our virtual 2024 Annual Meeting today, starting at 2pm EST! Registrants have received an email with instructions for accessing the Zoom. Look for an email titled "2024 NACHW Annual Meeting Confirmation" from Sunny Williams. Make sure to look in the inbox of the email you registered for Unity with!