“Community Health Workers (CHWs) come from the communities they serve, building trust and vital relationships. This trusting relationship enables the CHWs to be effective links between their own communities and systems of care. This crucial relationship significantly lowers health disparities in Minnesota because CHWs: provide access to services, improve the quality and cultural competence of care, create an effective system of chronic disease management, and increase the health knowledge and self-sufficiency of underserved populations.” (MN CHW Alliance)
Community Health Worker Initiatives
In 2015, Generations convened a CHW Learning Collaborative to enhance the knowledge and understanding of CHW roles and models for interested stakeholders. This group includes health systems and clinics, public health, and community organizations and continues to meet to share learnings around CHWs.
In partnership with Healthy Northland, Generations started the CHW Network in 2017, a mutual support and training network for the CHWs in our region. Generations continues to facilitate the CHW Network and provide technical assistance to CHW employers and supervisors.
Working with stakeholders, Generations is committed to facilitating and supporting the development of sustainable CHW models that will allow the CHW field to grow and thrive. Generations works on statewide CHW collaborations and has connections to national initiatives. We will continue to bring best practices for CHW integration to our community.