Victoria M Nielsen, W W Sanouri Ursprung, Glory Song, Gail Hirsch, Theresa Mason, Claire Santarelli, Erica Guimaraes, Erica Marshall, Caitlin G Allen, Pei-Pei Lei, Diane Brown, Bittie Behl-Chadha
{"title":"马萨诸塞州社区健康工作者认证启动:马萨诸塞州社区健康工作者劳动力调查的结果。","authors":"Victoria M Nielsen, W W Sanouri Ursprung, Glory Song, Gail Hirsch, Theresa Mason, Claire Santarelli, Erica Guimaraes, Erica Marshall, Caitlin G Allen, Pei-Pei Lei, Diane Brown, Bittie Behl-Chadha","doi":"10.1177/00333549241253419","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objectives: </strong>The launch of state certification for community health workers (CHWs) in Massachusetts in 2018 aimed to promote and champion this critical workforce. However, concerns exist about unintentional adverse effects of certification. Given this, we conducted 2 cross-sectional surveys to evaluate this certification policy.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We conducted surveys of CHW employers and CHWs in 3 sample frames: community health centers and federally qualified health centers, acute-care hospitals, and community-based organizations. We administered the surveys in 2016 (before certification launch) and 2021 (after certification launch) to answer the following questions: Was certification associated with positive outcomes among CHWs after its launch? Did harmful shifts occur among the CHW workforce and employers after certification launch? Was certification associated with disparities among CHWs after its launch?</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Certification was associated with higher pay among certified (vs noncertified) CHWs, better perceptions of CHWs among certified (vs noncertified) CHWs, and better integration of certified (vs noncertified) CHWs into care teams. We found no adverse shifts in CHW workforce by sociodemographic variables or in CHW employer characteristics (most notably CHW employer hiring requirements) after certification launch. After certification launch, certified and uncertified CHWs had similar demographic and educational characteristics. However, certified CHWs more often worked in large, clinical organizations while uncertified CHWs most often worked in medium-sized community-based organizations.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Our evaluation of Massachusetts CHW certification suggests that CHW certification was not associated with workforce disparities and was associated with positive outcomes. Our study fills a notable gap in the research literature and can guide CHW research agendas, certification efforts in Massachusetts and other states, and program efforts to champion this critical, grassroots workforce.</p>","PeriodicalId":20793,"journal":{"name":"Public Health Reports","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.0000,"publicationDate":"2024-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11528718/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":"{\"title\":\"The Launch of Massachusetts Community Health Worker Certification: Findings From the Massachusetts Community Health Worker Workforce Surveys.\",\"authors\":\"Victoria M Nielsen, W W Sanouri Ursprung, Glory Song, Gail Hirsch, Theresa Mason, Claire Santarelli, Erica Guimaraes, Erica Marshall, Caitlin G Allen, Pei-Pei Lei, Diane Brown, Bittie Behl-Chadha\",\"doi\":\"10.1177/00333549241253419\",\"DOIUrl\":null,\"url\":null,\"abstract\":\"<p><strong>Objectives: </strong>The launch of state certification for community health workers (CHWs) in Massachusetts in 2018 aimed to promote and champion this critical workforce. However, concerns exist about unintentional adverse effects of certification. Given this, we conducted 2 cross-sectional surveys to evaluate this certification policy.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We conducted surveys of CHW employers and CHWs in 3 sample frames: community health centers and federally qualified health centers, acute-care hospitals, and community-based organizations. We administered the surveys in 2016 (before certification launch) and 2021 (after certification launch) to answer the following questions: Was certification associated with positive outcomes among CHWs after its launch? Did harmful shifts occur among the CHW workforce and employers after certification launch? Was certification associated with disparities among CHWs after its launch?</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Certification was associated with higher pay among certified (vs noncertified) CHWs, better perceptions of CHWs among certified (vs noncertified) CHWs, and better integration of certified (vs noncertified) CHWs into care teams. We found no adverse shifts in CHW workforce by sociodemographic variables or in CHW employer characteristics (most notably CHW employer hiring requirements) after certification launch. After certification launch, certified and uncertified CHWs had similar demographic and educational characteristics. However, certified CHWs more often worked in large, clinical organizations while uncertified CHWs most often worked in medium-sized community-based organizations.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Our evaluation of Massachusetts CHW certification suggests that CHW certification was not associated with workforce disparities and was associated with positive outcomes. Our study fills a notable gap in the research literature and can guide CHW research agendas, certification efforts in Massachusetts and other states, and program efforts to champion this critical, grassroots workforce.</p>\",\"PeriodicalId\":20793,\"journal\":{\"name\":\"Public Health Reports\",\"volume\":null,\"pages\":null},\"PeriodicalIF\":3.0000,\"publicationDate\":\"2024-11-01\",\"publicationTypes\":\"Journal Article\",\"fieldsOfStudy\":null,\"isOpenAccess\":false,\"openAccessPdf\":\"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11528718/pdf/\",\"citationCount\":\"0\",\"resultStr\":null,\"platform\":\"Semanticscholar\",\"paperid\":null,\"PeriodicalName\":\"Public Health Reports\",\"FirstCategoryId\":\"3\",\"ListUrlMain\":\"https://doi.org/10.1177/00333549241253419\",\"RegionNum\":4,\"RegionCategory\":\"医学\",\"ArticlePicture\":[],\"TitleCN\":null,\"AbstractTextCN\":null,\"PMCID\":null,\"EPubDate\":\"2024/5/28 0:00:00\",\"PubModel\":\"Epub\",\"JCR\":\"Q2\",\"JCRName\":\"PUBLIC, ENVIRONMENTAL & OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH\",\"Score\":null,\"Total\":0}","platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Public Health Reports","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00333549241253419","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2024/5/28 0:00:00","PubModel":"Epub","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"PUBLIC, ENVIRONMENTAL & OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH","Score":null,"Total":0}
The Launch of Massachusetts Community Health Worker Certification: Findings From the Massachusetts Community Health Worker Workforce Surveys.
Objectives: The launch of state certification for community health workers (CHWs) in Massachusetts in 2018 aimed to promote and champion this critical workforce. However, concerns exist about unintentional adverse effects of certification. Given this, we conducted 2 cross-sectional surveys to evaluate this certification policy.
Methods: We conducted surveys of CHW employers and CHWs in 3 sample frames: community health centers and federally qualified health centers, acute-care hospitals, and community-based organizations. We administered the surveys in 2016 (before certification launch) and 2021 (after certification launch) to answer the following questions: Was certification associated with positive outcomes among CHWs after its launch? Did harmful shifts occur among the CHW workforce and employers after certification launch? Was certification associated with disparities among CHWs after its launch?
Results: Certification was associated with higher pay among certified (vs noncertified) CHWs, better perceptions of CHWs among certified (vs noncertified) CHWs, and better integration of certified (vs noncertified) CHWs into care teams. We found no adverse shifts in CHW workforce by sociodemographic variables or in CHW employer characteristics (most notably CHW employer hiring requirements) after certification launch. After certification launch, certified and uncertified CHWs had similar demographic and educational characteristics. However, certified CHWs more often worked in large, clinical organizations while uncertified CHWs most often worked in medium-sized community-based organizations.
Conclusions: Our evaluation of Massachusetts CHW certification suggests that CHW certification was not associated with workforce disparities and was associated with positive outcomes. Our study fills a notable gap in the research literature and can guide CHW research agendas, certification efforts in Massachusetts and other states, and program efforts to champion this critical, grassroots workforce.
期刊介绍:
Public Health Reports is the official journal of the Office of the U.S. Surgeon General and the U.S. Public Health Service and has been published since 1878. It is published bimonthly, plus supplement issues, through an official agreement with the Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health. The journal is peer-reviewed and publishes original research and commentaries in the areas of public health practice and methodology, original research, public health law, and public health schools and teaching. Issues contain regular commentaries by the U.S. Surgeon General and executives of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Health.
The journal focuses upon such topics as tobacco control, teenage violence, occupational disease and injury, immunization, drug policy, lead screening, health disparities, and many other key and emerging public health issues. In addition to the six regular issues, PHR produces supplemental issues approximately 2-5 times per year which focus on specific topics that are of particular interest to our readership. The journal''s contributors are on the front line of public health and they present their work in a readable and accessible format.