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Chw's role in improving health & reducing disparities: The Massachusetts experience
Chw's role in improving health & reducing disparities: The Massachusetts experience
Monday, November 4, 2013
: 11:30 a.m. - 11:45 a.m.
Established in 2000 to enable CHWs to lead the movement to organize, define and strengthen the profession of community health workers, the Massachusetts Association of Community Health Workers (MACHW) has led the state's policy initiatives to integrate CHWs into health reform. Community health workers have a unique contribution to ensure that health reform is successful in reducing health disparities through increasing access and improving utilization of preventive primary care. Massachusetts CHWs, through convening and educating key policy advocates and mobilizing the CHW workforce, have achieved several major legislative successes which are building a solid foundation for inclusion of CHWs into emerging models of care. This presentation will summarize these efforts and how they are a model for other states seeking to advance the CHW workforce through health reform.
Learning Areas:
Public health or related organizational policy, standards, or other guidelinesLearning Objectives:
Describe lessons learned from Community Health Workers in Massachusetts who worked to enroll individuals after the state passed its health insurance mandate in 2006.
Keyword(s): Community Health Advisor, Community Health Promoters
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am a CHW in MA and have first hand experience in implementing the MA health reform law
Any relevant financial relationships? No
I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.