Community Health Worker Network

In addition to building capacity, as a core part of our Healthcare Equity goal, we advocate for policies and programs to integrate CHWs and promotoras into the healthcare system, focusing on Medi-Cal given the disproportionate impact of asthma on low-income communities. 

Why CHWs and promotoras? They serve an essential role in asthma management. Robust evidence shows that CHWs and promotoras provide effective asthma self-management and environmental education, bridge the gap between patients and their providers, offer social services such as interpretation and referrals, and perform care navigation.

CHWs and promotoras are recognized as uniquely effective in delivering culturally competent home-based asthma interventions because they often have shared cultural backgrounds with participants. Even in cases where there is not a shared cultural background, effective asthma educators practice cultural humility, which is the process of bringing into check the power imbalances between the provider and the individual or family. The CHW/promotora approach to a culturally humble process involves asking questions to gain knowledge, achieving mutual respect, and moving toward shared goal-setting and decision-making.

Innovations in state approaches to Medi-Cal, as well as the leadership of some private payers, are creating more opportunities for CHWs, promotoras, and other non-licensed providers to be reimbursed for providing services in home and community settings.

To learn more, contact Anne Kelsey Lamb at anne@rampasthma.org/.