Department of Psychology, University of Florida, 945 Center Drive, P.O. Box 112250, Gainesville, FL, 32611, USA.
Department of Counseling Psychology and Human Services, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, USA.
J Community Health. 2018 Jun;43(3):552-559. doi: 10.1007/s10900-017-0451-3.
The high prevalence of health disparity diseases (e.g., obesity, Type 2 diabetes) among underserved populations in the United States suggests the need for increased resources to prevent these diseases and to improve health care access and quality in underserved communities. Community health workers are valuable resources and facilitators of health care access and quality treatment. The purpose of the present study is to provide descriptive information about community health workers in Florida and to provide recommendations for improved training and expansion of community health workers' roles in research and intervention. The study participants were 396 adults (85.1% Female, 75.5% Community health workers) who completed the 2015 Florida Community Health Workers Census. Participants were recruited by the Health Council of South Florida through emails and phone calls to members of the Florida Community Health Worker Coalition and various organizations. It was found that several groups disproportionately affected by health disparities were underrepresented among the community health workers who participated in the census and among the communities served by these community health workers. Actions are needed to improve and increase the recruitment and training of community health workers in Florida.
在美国，服务不足人群中健康差异疾病（如肥胖、2 型糖尿病）的高发率表明，需要增加资源来预防这些疾病，并改善服务不足社区的医疗保健可及性和质量。社区卫生工作者是医疗保健可及性和优质治疗的宝贵资源和促进者。本研究的目的是提供佛罗里达州社区卫生工作者的描述性信息，并为改进培训和扩大社区卫生工作者在研究和干预中的角色提供建议。研究参与者为 396 名成年人（85.1%为女性，75.5%为社区卫生工作者），他们完成了 2015 年佛罗里达州社区卫生工作者普查。参与者是通过南佛罗里达健康委员会向佛罗里达州社区卫生工作者联盟和各种组织的成员发送电子邮件和电话招募的。研究发现，在参与普查的社区卫生工作者以及这些社区卫生工作者所服务的社区中，几个受健康差异影响不成比例的群体代表性不足。需要采取行动来改进和增加佛罗里达州社区卫生工作者的招募和培训。
