180 - Empowering Community Health Workers: Leveraging their expertise as evaluators

Abstract Information: Cook Children’s Center for Community Health (C4CH) utilizes certified Community Health Workers (CHWs) to address hyper-localized barriers within our eight-county service region in North Texas. Each community health worker bridges the gap between health care, social services, and families within the community they serve. CHWs possess a unique understanding of their communities, gained through lived experiences, direct interaction, and immersion. This intimate knowledge allows them to identify and contextualize community culture, needs, assets, and challenges providing critical insights for evaluation efforts. The skill of evaluation is woven throughout the eight established CHW core competencies.C4CH has 14 CHWs focused on three health topic areas: asthma (4 CHWs), oral health (8 CHWs), and parenting support (2 CHWs). Between October 2022 and September 2023, 5,247 contacts and supportive services were provided to families, and 316 community referrals were provided by our CHWs to families to assist with food, diapers, utilities/rent, workforce information, and medical/dental care. In addition to the copious tasks of a CHW, the CHWs have been trained to assist in evaluation activities through capturing critical documentation and data collection for program measures, administering surveys, conducting interviews for the Cook Children’s Community Health Needs Assessment, and identifying program effectiveness, and areas for improvement. The CHW perspective has led to insights often missed by traditional evaluation approaches. By integrating CHWs into the evaluation process, a more comprehensive and community-centered approach to evaluation is achieved. Utilizing CHWs throughout C4CH evaluation efforts has led to more responsive, culturally sensitive, and impactful programs, ultimately resulting in improved health outcomes and strengthened communities.