Book and Media Review: Foundations for Community Health Workers

This first textbook on, by, and for community health workers (CHW) is long overdue. It adheres to its stated purpose of providing a foundation for the increasing workforce of CHWs. The voices of CHWs are heard throughout. The book is comprehensive in its 592 pages, with 22 chapters, in three sections. Those sections cover the changing world of the community health worker and core competencies for work with clients and with communities. The thoroughness is laudable, but comes at a cost. The length, small font size, and cost of the book might limit its accessibility to its primary intended audience. Overall, this is an essential contribution to the development of the CHW workforce. The reviewers make some recommendations on how to increase accessibility to CHWs.