Vaughan EM, Cepni AB, Le UPN, Johnston CA. The Rationale and Logistics for Incorporating Community Health Workers Into the Multidisciplinary Team.
Am J Lifestyle Med 2023;
17:355-358. [PMID:
37304752 PMCID:
PMC10248369 DOI:
10.1177/15598276231151866]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 09/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Community Health Workers (CHWs) have shown value in diabetes care. CHWs are often the individuals who provide behavioral lifestyle intervention to underserved communities and are often the first to assist patients in gaining appropriate access to care. As trusted members of their communities, they have the ability to significantly impact psychosocial and biomedical outcomes, making them important members of the behavioral medicine team. However, lack of recognition of CHWs within multidisciplinary teams (MDTs) gives rise to the issue of the underutilization of their services. Therefore, barriers to including CHWs in MDTs including standardized training and strategies to overcome these are discussed.
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