CHW Model Best Practice Toolkits

Community Health Worker Model Best Practice Toolkit for Designing, Implementing and Showing Impact

The Center for Community Health Alignment convened both Community Health Worker (CHW) subject matter experts and CHWs for over a year and a half period to identify best practice strategies for designing, implementing and showing the impact of the Community Health Worker (CHW) Models. A series of  toolkits have been developed in collaboration with Community Health Workers and CHW allies with extensive expertise in CHW model implementation in both community-based and healthcare settings. Additionally, CCHA has worked to co-create population-focused toolkits to include Perinatal CHW models and Rural Health CHW models. It is our hope that organizations will find the best practices and resources beneficial to designing effective programs across diverse population-based and geographic areas.

The National Association of Community Health Workers (NACHW) and  the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO) recently released a toolkit for featuring several tools and resources developed by our Community Health Worker Institute and our CHW ambassadors. Read more.

Section I: Designing Community Health Worker Programs

This toolkit section will help you with:

  • Preparing your team to implement CHW programs.
  • Finding the right CHWs for population served.
  • Recruiting, hiring, and onboarding CHWs.
  • CHW training and continuing education.

Section II: Working Effectively with Community Health Workers

This toolkit section will help you with:

  • Developing new or revising existing workflows.
  • Assessing individual and community needs and identifying populations that CHWs can serve.
  • Establishing CHW Caseloads.
  • Documenting CHW Activities.
  • Establishing effective team communication and feedback loops.

Section III: Understanding Screening and Responding to Social Determinants of Health

This toolkit section will help you with:

  • Facilitation of a planning process for screening and responding to SDOH needs.
  • Assessment for fit for organizations to determine which screening tool(s) provide the best fit based on individual needs (e.g., identifying domains to screen for).
  • Assessment of organizational capacity to address SDOH (organizational services, resources and closing the loop on referrals).

Section IV: Evaluating a Community Health Worker Program

This toolkit section will help you with:

  • Choosing the right information to collect and report.
  • Selecting the appropriate type of evaluation to fit the goals of your organization.
  • Understanding ways to disseminate your evaluation reports.