CHWs-NH is a campaign to improve the health of all NH residents through the utilization of Community Health Workers across the state.
New Hampshire’s vulnerable communities face health disparities that continue to overwhelm. And our aging population is growing. Many of our residents face significant health challenges. From managing chronic conditions to accessing essential healthcare services, the struggle is real – and costly.
But there’s hope.
Community Health Workers (CHWs) are stepping up to address these critical issues.
CHWs are people from the community (geographic or population-specific) who can visit people in their homes, help them follow their care plans, manage their health, and connect them with resources to essential services. They can help them figure out what they need to be healthy.
And CHWs help reduce healthcare costs by preventing hospital readmissions, reducing emergency room visits, and providing cost-effective care right in our communities.
With their deep understanding of their communities and their own lived experience, Community Health Workers (CHWs) improve individual and community health.
CHWs are able to assist one person at a time, helping them to regain their health, reduce the social barriers in their lives, and connect them to support and resources.
That means mom is getting her prescriptions refilled on time. Dad is making healthy food choices. And the lady next door has support finding and reaching out to resources in her language.
For every person that becomes healthier, there is a family that becomes healthier, and this ripples out to improve the overall health of the community.
CHWs provide additional eyes and ears that can listen to and see the patient in their own environment. Providers can only work with the information the patient presents them with and what they can see in front of them. As trusted community members, patients will often share information with CHWs that they don’t share with a provider.
CHWs have the ability to spend time with the patients outside of the medical office, seeing what their living environment is like, and learning the external factors that affect the individual. This extra information that the CHW can provide often can make differences in how providers treat their patient’s medical conditions. Understanding that the patient may live somewhere with mold or can only cook with a microwave can change how they treat their asthma or talk about nutrition with them.
CHW-NH Brochure Request
We have created a comprehensive brochure for multiple audiences about Community Health Workers in NH. This brochure aims to educate the public about the importance of the CHW profession and advocate for greater support and utilization of CHWs. Supporting CHWs is an investment in building a more equitable and effective community, and we hope to promote this by distributing them to providers, organizations, community members, etc.
