Abstract
The role of participating in evaluation and research includes engaging in evaluating community health worker (CHW) services and programs, identifying and engaging community member as research partners, and comprehensive involvement throughout the evaluation and research process. Health research in the United States has a mixed history of harm and benefit, particularly in marginalized communities like the ones most often served by CHW programs. However, research can be an essential tool to ensure that CHW programs achieve positive outcomes for the people they serve, gather information to demonstrate success and make improvements, and include the expertise and insight of the communities they serve. In this chapter, two teams describe how CHWs have been integrated into evaluation and research. The first team shares how the Penn Center for Community Health Workers has used research and evaluation to develop, assess, and improve the IMPaCT (Individualized Management for Patient-Centered Targets) CHW model, including participatory research that developed the model, clinical trials that tested and demonstrated its effectiveness, and ongoing evaluation that continues to strengthen and improve the program. Special attention was paid to strategies for including community and CHW perspectives in research and evaluation processes. The second team provides a comprehensive overview of how a multi-stakeholder partnership between the Florida Community Health Worker (CHW) Coalition Inc. and the University of Miami (UM) developed a formalized CHW certification pathway in Florida and leveraged the state’s existing CHW infrastructure to develop a structured training program. Examples of CHWs making important contributions to noted national research studies are provided.