IN THE MEDIA

For 11 months, Cheryl Garfield, a community health worker in West Philadelphia, has been a navigator of pandemic loss and hardship. She makes calls to people who are isolated in their homes, people who are sick and afraid. 

Covid-19 may have exposed the legacy of decades of healthcare discrimination in the US, but the idea that race adversely affects health outcomes is a shared reality for community health workers such as Cheryl Garfield

Across the country, almost all government efforts to curtail the coronavirus have evaporated. Mask mandates have been lifted on public transit. Conservative lawmakers have hamstrung what public-health departments can do in emergencies. 

.May is Mental Health Awareness month. In talking about behavioral health, NCQA again is at the forefront of health measurement.  The NCQA Distinction in Behavioral Health Intergration program works with NCQA PCMHs to perform gap analyses. 

Across the nation, states are pursuing strategies to meet Medicaid members’ health and social needs, including coverage and requirements for deploying community health workers (CHWs). Because CHWs can build trust and connect members to resources for whole-person care, they are ideally positioned to help identify needs.

Ms. Ashlee Harris is a Community Health Worker at the Penn Center for Community Health Workers. Throughout her 4 years at the Center, she has provided social and emotional support to many disadvantaged patients in the Philadelphia region, including individuals with Sickle Cell Disease. 

Baltimore is improving the health of its poorest residents by following the example of community health care workers in Africa and Asia, according to Chidinma Ibe of the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Equity.

Leaders in health disparities research here are looking to community health workers to play a game-changing role in improving health among those living in racially minoritized communities.

A Maryland native, Scott is the first-ever certified CHW in the state of Maryland. She received her certification in 2015 and currently works as a CHW Instructor, Master Trainer & Consultant.