Characterizing Community Health Workers on Research Teams: Results From the Centers for Population Health and Health Disparities

To quantify the characteristics of community health workers (CHWs) involved in community intervention research and, in particular, to characterize their job titles, roles, and responsibilities; recruitment and compensation; and training and supervision. We developed and administered a structured questionnaire consisting of 25 closed- and open-ended questions to staff on National Institutes of Health-funded Centers for Population Health and Health Disparities projects between March and April 2014. We report frequency distributions for CHW roles, sought-after skills, education requirements, benefits and incentives offered, and supervision and training activities. A total of 54 individuals worked as CHWs across the 18 research projects and held a diverse range of job titles. The CHWs commonly collaborated on research project implementation, provided education and support to study participants, and collected data. Training was offered across projects to bolster CHW capacity to assist in intervention and research activities. Our experience suggests national benefit in supporting greater efforts to recruit, retain, and support the work of CHWs in community-engagement research.