Including community health workers—sometimes referred to as CHWs—in research is highly valuable and is of greatest importance when using community-based participatory research approaches.
They are trusted community members, and serve as vital links between health-related services and the community.
An under-valued resource
Unfortunately, too often a community health worker’s role in a study is confined to operational research tasks like education, outreach, recruitment, or data collection, including feedback on surveys. While community health workers play an important role in these endeavors, their potential extends beyond that.
As experts on their community, these frontline professionals know the local context and concerns the community wants to investigate. When community health workers are placed in more essential or leadership roles, they can offer invaluable insight into designing projects that align with community priorities.
A 2024 study on community health workers elaborates, saying:
“As trusted community members with a unique understanding of the local context, meaningful involvement of CHWs can enhance various aspects of research design, processes, and outcomes.”
Not fully engaging community health workers’ expertise can ultimately hinder the quality, relevance, and impact of the research, thereby directly impacting community health.
Training for community health workers
To cultivate the research role of community health workers in Minnesota, the Clinical and Translational Science Institute’s community engagement team has joined forces with other local community partners.
In partnership with the Minnesota CHW Alliance, SoLaHmo Partnership for Health and Wellness, the Minnesota Department of Health, and local community health workers, we’re co-creating innovative training approaches, resources, and support to help community health workers gain research skills and readiness to join research teams as co-researchers.
For example, this partnership initiative recently developed a free, online course called CHWs 101: Introduction to Research. The training is already making an impact on local community health workers, with one participant saying, “[the course] gave me the opportunity to see myself in these new research roles in collaboration with the research team.”
More fully integrating CHWs
Work to more fully involve community health workers in research projects is just getting started. The partners plan to explore other ways to help community health workers build research careers, including additional training and career expansion opportunities.
Together, these efforts and this partnership initiative lay the groundwork for expanding the role and leadership opportunities that community health workers have in advancing research for the greater good of our communities.
To learn more the importance of community health workers in community-engaged research and our efforts, read the following article we collaborated on for the Journal of Public Health Management and Practice:
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