Mecklenburg County Health Department

Community Health Worker Initiative
- Convene key decision makers in a collaborative forum to contribute to organizational planning, development, and direction.
- Develop a collaborative plan that involves mentorship and training for CHWs in Mecklenburg County.
- Develop a shared data governance plan to better align initiatives and programs to demonstrate CHW impact in Mecklenburg County.
IMPACT: Individuals and households who traditionally do not have equitable access to health information and services improve their health outcomes with the assistance of Community Health Workers.
Theory of Change
Community health workers increase their skills, abilities and access to resources that improve community, household, and individual social determinants of health.
Organizations employing community health workers provide long-term investments and the support necessary for community health workers to sustain their employment within the profession/agency.
Mecklenburg County’s network of health providers maximize the resources available for community health workers to improve population health.
-Community health workers have the technical skills and support to provide quality interventions.
-Community health workers have the resources necessary to improve a household’s unique social determinants of their health.
-Community health workers have the ability to understand and manage potential burnout.
-Community health workers have the leadership and self-advocacy skills to improve institutional settings.
-Community Health Workers assist in the data collection and management of the Common Indicators used in measuring health improvements.
-Health serving organizations develop, implement, evaluate, and continuously improve their CHW programs.
-Health serving organizations implement strategies designed to onboard CHWs (including the 10 roles of a CHW), and increase the skills, support and incentives needed to retain CHWs.
-Health serving organizations have culturally competent workplace policies that support the diversity, inclusion and equity of CHWs; especially in decision that directly impact CHWs and the people they serve.
-Network members work together to provide efficient and comprehensive community coverage to the diverse communities in Mecklenburg County.
-Network members develop processes to identify resource gaps that can be used to develop strategic advocacy partnerships.
-Network members create and implement plans that decrease inequities between Mecklenburg County’s CBO’s and large HSO.
Client:
Mecklenburg County Health Department
Services Provided:
Evaluation
The Problem/Challenge:
Partners for Impact was brought on to evaluate whether the Community Health Worker Initiative was meeting its primary goals.
Case:
- Mecklenburg County’s Community Health Worker Program which oversees “ A Guided Journey” and other internal Community Health Worker Projects, and also provides backbone support for the community-wide initiative;
- Queen City (QC) Community Connect Coalition is an association of community health workers practicing in Mecklenburg County; and
- The Stakeholder Advisory Collaborative which is composed of organizational representatives from across the County who deploy Community Health Workers, including direct supervisors and program directors
- Convene key decision makers in a collaborative forum to contribute to organizational planning, development, and direction.
- Develop a collaborative plan that involves mentorship and training for CHWs in Mecklenburg County.
- Develop a shared data governance plan to better align initiatives and programs to demonstrate CHW impact in Mecklenburg County.
- Design and implement with a priority placed on equity
- Include community members in the collaborative
- Recruit and co-create with cross sector partners
- Use data to continuously learn, adapt and improve
- Cultivate leaders with unique system leadership skills
- Focus on program and system strategies
- Build a culture that fosters relationships, trust, and respect across participants
- Customize to the local context