United Voices: Cross-cultural CHW perspectives to eliminate health disparities and propose policy change

United Voices is a cross-cultural and grassroots collaborative led by community health workers (CHWs) in the state of Wisconsin. The collaborative works to advocate for CHWs, improve the health outcomes of communities and to create awareness of the social determinants of health (SDH).  Little research has focused on documenting the SDH from the grassroots perspective. In collaboration with the Medical College of Wisconsin and with funding support from the WI Department of Health Services—Minority Health Program, this study explored CHWs’ awareness and understanding of the SDH.

Five focus groups (4 in English, 1 in Spanish) were conducted with 40 CHWs in the Milwaukee Metropolitan Area. CHWs were directly recruited for participation with the aid of community agencies that are affiliated with United Voices. Groups were sampled based on the communities in which the CHWs serve and included African American (n=9), Asian (n=5), Latino (n=10), Native American (n=11), and Refugee (n=5). Data analysis and interpretation was guided by a participatory approach and with the leadership of United Voices CHWs.

In this session, the presenters (United Voices CHWs and academic partner) will highlight key findings from the study including CHWs’ perceived barriers and facilitators to reducing the impact of the SDH in their communities. Additionally, this presentation will provide an overview of how United Voices will use study findings to inform the development and implementation of a SDH continued education curriculum for CHWs, and to identify priority focus areas to inform grass-roots efforts for policy and systems level change.