Using Community Health Workers to Combat COVID-19
How can CHWs help combat COVID-19? We asked Dr. Leonard to talk to us about some potential ways CHWs could be helpful if deployed where she lives.
“In Watsonville [California], where I see patients one day a week,” Dr. Leonard told us, “We have a large [spanish-speaking community]. Some people are here legally, some people are not here legally.
Those people are the front lines for us. They're in agriculture and they have easy access to care. But – they’re afraid to come into care for a couple of reasons. One, they were working, they don't want to lose their job. And they don't want to necessarily complain about being protected, because if they complain then they might lose their job. And then, you know, there's all the immigration and worrying about if ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] is at the health center.
So there are all of these other layers and that, again, is where CHWs can come in. Because they can be that bridge that culturally can help to reassure and bring them into care in a way that makes them feel safe in it. So it's a totally different scenario, but very similar in terms of relationships and serving as a liaison.”
Communities may find that it is easier to engage with CHWs – especially those who actually reside within their housing complex or neighborhood. If the CHW is part of a minority community, their positive effect can be further enhanced if they share cultural and linguistic rapport with community members.
The ability to act as translators, cultural mediators, and healthcare facilitators is often downplayed. Yet, these are extremely valuable qualities. Contact tracing, one of the most important parts of COVID-19 management, can only be done accurately when there is trust present in the community.
In fact, we have already seen that CHWs can be deployed efficiently in similar ways. CHWs in Barcelona were used to help connect immigrant communities to healthcare systems in order to promote the treatment of tuberculosis and prevent the spread of the disease.”
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