Graduate School of Social Service, Fordham University, New York, NY 10023, USA.
University of Michigan School of Social Work, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA.
Health Promot Int. 2021 Oct 13;36(5):1498-1507. doi: 10.1093/heapro/daab008.
COVID-19 has served to exacerbate existing health disparities and inequities, most-if not all-of which can be traced to the social determinants of health (SDOH) that affect specific populations and communities. Essential to health and health systems long before, community health workers are experts in addressing SDOH in community-based settings; however, they have yet to be mobilized as part of the COVID-19 response both in the US and internationally. We use data from our mixed-methods study with supervisors (n=6), Executive Directors (EDs) (n=7), and CHWs (n=90) to describe the critical role that CHWs can play to assist in response to COVID-19 using New York State's (NYS) as a case example. Building on these findings, we raise specific CHW workforce issues and propose recommendations for how to mobilize this workforce in national pandemic response efforts.
新冠疫情加剧了现有的健康不平等现象，这些不平等现象几乎都可以追溯到影响特定人群和社区的健康社会决定因素。在这之前，社区卫生工作者一直是解决以社区为基础的健康社会决定因素的专家；然而，无论是在美国还是在国际上，他们都还没有被动员起来，参与到应对新冠疫情的行动中。我们使用了来自我们的混合方法研究的数据，这些数据涉及主管（n=6）、执行主任（EDs）（n=7）和社区卫生工作者（n=90），以描述社区卫生工作者可以在协助应对新冠疫情方面发挥的关键作用，我们以纽约州（NYS）作为案例研究。基于这些发现，我们提出了具体的社区卫生工作者劳动力问题，并提出了如何在国家大流行病应对工作中调动这一劳动力的建议。
