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Knowledge and Attitudes of Potential Community Health Worker Employers: Findings from the State of Arkansas, USA

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Abstract

Community health workers (CHWs) are critical to health equity efforts, but sustaining CHW programs is challenging. Understanding stakeholders’ knowledge and attitudes about CHWs can inform strategies to advance this important workforce. The authors implemented an online survey of potential CHW employers to learn their perceptions of CHWs’ roles, outcomes, and abilities to affect important health outcomes, and of key issues that affect CHW employment. The survey was disseminated statewide to a diverse group of stakeholders working in healthcare in Arkansas. A total of 151 surveys were collected and included in the analysis. The organizations represented by respondents primarily included state and local agencies and clinics, followed by healthcare systems. The main professional roles of survey respondents were administrators and clinicians, followed by healthcare staff. Over 90% of respondents agreed that CHWs have the ability to conduct community outreach, serve as a liaison, navigate health systems, provide coaching support, and participate in care coordination. Over 90% of healthcare administrators, clinicians, and policymakers agreed that standardized training and a clear definition of role and scope of practice are important to CHW employment. However, almost two-thirds of respondents’ organizations were not employing CHWs, adding to previous research which has primarily focused on CHW employers’ attitudes. Understanding and addressing attitudes of those who lack experience with CHWs can help to identify actions needed to promote and increase adoption of CHWs. The authors share how they are using these data to engage stakeholders in decision-making and adoption of CHWs in their state.

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Data Availability

The survey date generated and analyzed for the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Funding

Preparation of this manuscript was partially supported by the Arkansas Department of Health (Award ID: NU58DP006556) funded by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Control (CDC), by the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Translational Research Institute (Award ID: U54TR001629) funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, and by the Arkansas Center for Health Disparities (Award ID: U54MD002329ARCHD) funded by the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities at the NIH. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the CDC or NIH.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Penn State Hershey Medical Center, Hershey, PA, USA

    Jordan Fletcher

  2. Department of Health Policy and Management, Fay W. Boozman College of Public Health, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, 4301 West Markham St., Little Rock, 72205, AR, USA

    M. Kathryn Stewart, Sarah Fountain & Taiwo Adesoba

  3. Office of Community-Based Public Health, Fay W. Boozman College of Public Health, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR, USA

    M. Kathryn Stewart, Sarah Fountain & Anna Huff Davis

  4. Tri County Rural Health Network, Helena, AR, USA

    Naomi Cottoms

  5. Arkansas Department of Health, Little Rock, AR, USA

    Becky Adams

  6. Department of Health Policy and Management, Fay W. Boozman College of Public Health, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Northwest Campus, Fayetteville, AR, USA

    Holly Felix

  7. Department of Health Behavior and Health Education, Fay W. Boozman College of Public Health, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR, USA

    Thomas Chung

Authors
  1. Jordan Fletcher
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  2. M. Kathryn Stewart
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  3. Sarah Fountain
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  4. Anna Huff Davis
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  5. Naomi Cottoms
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  6. Becky Adams
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  7. Taiwo Adesoba
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  8. Holly Felix
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  9. Thomas Chung
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Contributions

All authors listed made substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work. JF and TC were responsible for a majority of the data analysis. All authors listed approved for the current version to be published.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to M. Kathryn Stewart.

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The authors have no conflicts or competing financial interests.

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This work was deemed non-human subjects research by the Institutional Review Board at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.

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Fletcher, J., Stewart, M.K., Fountain, S. et al. Knowledge and Attitudes of Potential Community Health Worker Employers: Findings from the State of Arkansas, USA. J Community Health 47, 298–305 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10900-021-01043-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10900-021-01043-7

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