Community Health Workers Research: Where Are We Now? A Narrative Review of an Expanding Workforce for Mental Health.

IF 2.5 4区 医学 Q2 PSYCHIATRY
Taysha N Bruno Ortiz, Sofia Chu DeChristofaro, Michelle Cheng, Margarita Alegría
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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Abstract: In an evolving health care landscape, community health workers (CHWs) have emerged as invaluable assets, bridging gaps to mental health service access and fostering community resilience. In this article, we explore the multifaceted responsibilities shouldered by CHWs, encompassing outreach, education, and support, and underscore their unique abilities to establish trust within diverse communities. We also highlight evolving recognition of CHWs as integral health care team members and examine the growing body of evidence on CHW effectiveness in enhancing mental health outcomes, reducing disparities, and promoting preventative measures. Additionally, we review how, in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the CHW role has shifted with increased demand for their services within the mental health care landscape. The pandemic laid bare the vulnerabilities in existing health care structures, disproportionately affecting communities with limited resource access, including mental health support. Furthermore, we review six primary research domains that could potentially help expand the CHW workforce: standardization and training, sustainability and retention, integration into health systems, impact measurement, cost-effectiveness and financing, and scaling up and adaptation. Last, we examine the pandemic's transformative effects on CHWs; we shed light on their resilience and adaptability in the face of unprecedented challenges and underscore their heightened relevance within the evolving health care response paradigm post-COVID.

社区卫生工作者研究:我们现在在哪里?对不断扩大的精神卫生工作队伍的述评。
摘要:在不断发展的卫生保健环境中,社区卫生工作者(chw)已成为宝贵的资产,弥合了获得精神卫生服务的差距,并促进了社区的复原力。在这篇文章中,我们探讨了卫生工作者所承担的多方面责任,包括外展、教育和支持,并强调了他们在不同社区建立信任的独特能力。我们还强调了对身心健康工作者作为整体卫生保健团队成员的认识,并研究了身心健康工作者在提高心理健康结果、减少差异和促进预防措施方面的有效性的越来越多的证据。此外,我们回顾了在2019冠状病毒病大流行之后,随着精神卫生保健领域对其服务需求的增加,CHW的作用如何发生了变化。大流行暴露了现有卫生保健结构的脆弱性,对资源有限的社区造成了不成比例的影响,包括精神卫生支持。此外,我们回顾了可能有助于扩大卫生工作者队伍的六个主要研究领域:标准化和培训,可持续性和保留,融入卫生系统,影响测量,成本效益和融资,以及扩大和适应。最后,我们研究了大流行对卫生工作者的变革性影响;我们阐明了他们在面对前所未有的挑战时的复原力和适应性,并强调了他们在covid - 19后不断变化的卫生保健应对范式中的高度相关性。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
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来源期刊
CiteScore
7.50
自引率
0.00%
发文量
67
审稿时长
>12 weeks
期刊介绍: The Harvard Review of Psychiatry is the authoritative source for scholarly reviews and perspectives on important topics in psychiatry. Founded by the Harvard Medical School''s Department of Psychiatry, the Harvard Review of Psychiatry features review papers that summarize and synthesize the key literature in a scholarly and clinically relevant manner. Topics covered include: Schizophrenia and related disorders; Mood disorders; Personality disorders; Substance use disorders; Anxiety; Neuroscience; Psychosocial aspects of psychiatry; Ethics; Psychiatric education; and much more. In addition, a Clinical Challenges section presents a case with discussion from a panel of experts. Brief reviews are presented in topic-specific columns that include Cross-Cultural Psychiatry, History of Psychiatry, Ethics, and others.
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