Community Workers Lend Human Connection To COVID-19 Response

Promotoras de salud is a term that describe lay Latina community members who have been trained to provide health education to community members, and it's a concept that has helped eliminate barriers and improve health outcomes in Montana. Now, as the coronavirus pandemic spreads throughout the state, these part-time community health workers are helping their communities navigate the barriers to navigating the complex health care system.

A group of health professionals known as Latinx Advocacy Team & Interdisciplinary Network for COVID-19, or LATIN-19, is helping to bring coronavirus-specific health care access to North Carolina's Latino community. Because the group operates across county lines, they have become well-known amongst the local communities, helping to not only provide much-needed health care services, but also increase awareness around the dangers of the virus.

Organizations are mobilizing volunteers in hospitals to connect low-income families with human services which address social factors like poor housing, nutrition, etc. so patients are able to work and thus afford healthier lives.

Community health workers are a key part of Connecticut's public health response to COVID-19, particularly in marginalized communities. CHWs connect people to health care and other services, like rental assistance, help with contact tracing, and effectively increased vaccinations by taking the time to answer questions and dispel misinformation. Living in the communities they serve is a critical part of the model’s success and helps clients trust them more readily. The state now offers a CHW certification program, but the largely grant-funded model would be more sustainable with steady funding.

The Chicago-based Latino Alzheimer's and Memory Disorders Alliance (LAMDA) has helped connect "Latinos who have memory diseases with clinical support" by focusing on creating connections and using memory-health surveys. The program relies on bicultural community health promoters who are embedded within the community and visit places such as health fairs, nursing home lobbies and churches to offer resources and "conduct memory tests and evaluations on at-risk elders."

The Bridges to Health program in Oregon is helping to improve community health by connecting individuals and families to resources such as housing, food aid, transportation options, and health-care facilities. Although the COVID-19 pandemic has changed how the program works and not all clients are receptive to aid, "the program’s cross-sector model, its ability to quickly shift gears, and its resilient staff have allowed it to address the community’s changing needs."

The Community Health Representative Program has been helping connect the Navajo Nation with health-care resources for decades, but when the Covid-19 pandemic began to impact community members, the role of the representatives shifted. By "using their knowledge of the community in a different way," the representatives have largely become contact tracers, a role they are uniquely suited for given their understanding of the importance of cultural competency and their longevity in the community.

Stay-at-home orders and social distancing can worsen opioid addiction problems, and so some health providers, social media, and agencies in opioid-heavy Appalachia have devised ways to turn a threat into an opportunity. To counter isolation and denial of in-person counseling, forums on Reddit have thrived as virtual support groups. Video conferencing has proved a boon to telemedicine and counselors, extending the reach of services. Treatment providers and even Kentucky's prisons are distributing medications in novel ways to help people maintain sobriety and avoid overdoses.

In Tennessee and Kentucky, rural coal communities are drawing on their decades-old networks of mutual aid to protect coal miners from COVID-19. At the legislative level, the National Black Lung Association and other Appalachian groups are coming together to push for more coal miner protections in coronavirus stimulus bills. At the local level, communities are organizing phone trees to share necessary information, helping with grocery and prescription delivery, and providing greater access to broadband for those without reliable internet.

A fleet of mobile health units across the nation have been helping low-income and immigrant communities to access public health care resources, but during the coronavirus pandemic, the focus has shifted to providing relevant safety information. Leveraging the trust that has been developed over time, public health care workers are utilizing social media to distribute information and resources until they can until they can begin "delivering medications in partnership with Federally Qualified Health Centers, a safety net for uninsured and undocumented people."