Access to Quality Care in Community
Community Health Workers
Who Are CHWs?
CHWs
are known by a variety of names, including community health worker,
community health advisor, outreach worker, community health representative (CHR),
promotora/promotores de salud (health promoter/promoters), patient
navigator, navigator promotoras (navegadores para pacientes), peer
counselor, lay health advisor, peer health advisor, and peer leader.
As expressed by the Community Health Workers section of the American Public
Health Association: CHWs are frontline public health workers who are trusted
members of and/or have an unusually close understanding of the community
served. This trusting relationship enables CHWs to serve as a liaison, link,
or intermediary between health/social services and the community to
facilitate access to services and improve the quality and cultural
competence of service delivery.
