Where is the Workforce? Methods for Locating, Surveying, and Supporting CHWs

Community Health Workers (CHWs) are a growing profession in the United States; however, challenges exist to understand the dynamic labor force. The demand for information about CHWs is increasing as the unique workforce gains visibility and recognition from the public health and health care sectors. While numerous surveys have been conducted, the field lacks specific survey techniques and other methods for gaining access to this oftentimes hard-to-reach population. Therefore, it is imperative to share methodological approaches to surveying. This interactive session including a CHW presenter will describe qualitative and quantitative survey methods, challenges, and promising strategies to engaging CHWs, CHW supervisors, CHW employers, and CHW networks in surveying at the local, state, and national level. We will begin by dividing the audience into small groups and provide different real-world survey-related scenarios to consider. Examples include:

• You are a CHW and member of a newly formed CHW association. You know your work is important and want to show others too!
• You work at a health department that supports CHW-related work. You have conducted CHW surveys before but have recently been approached by a large insurance company about potential reimbursement for CHW services.

After the brainstorming session, we will review each example and ask for audience input about survey techniques. We will highlight successful strategies that we have employed to overcome survey challenges. This participatory session will include future directions for surveying the field and calls for action to help advance CHW surveying techniques.