The Utility of Community Health Workers in Disaster Preparedness, Recovery, and Resiliency

Lay Health Workers can play a pivotal role in improving disaster response and recovery because of their potential effectiveness in enhancing the overall health of their communities, increasing disaster preparedness, supplementing the efforts of disaster responders, and building relationships of trust among all interested parties. Such activities build social capital and significantly enhance community resiliency in anticipation of future disasters. Although there are a number of different types of lay health workers, the version with the greatest potential in this area is the Community Health Worker (CHW). Recent research findings confirm that CHWs serving in the communities where they live have been beneficial in emergency management planning and disaster recovery, following both natural and technological disasters. When properly trained, they constitute a proven strategy for timely interventions aimed at reducing long-term collective trauma and building social capital. In this paper, we elaborate the characteristics and roles of CHWs as a specific type of lay health worker; review research on the utility of CHWs in health care generally, as well as in the area of emergency management; describe their potential for building social capital and enhancing community resilience; and provide an overview of essential training needed to prepare them to participate in disaster preparedness, response, and recovery efforts. We conclude with some suggestions for future research.