Community health workers (CHWs) are an increasingly important member of the healthcare and public health professions who help build primary care capacity. Yet, in spite of the exponential growth of CHW interventions, CHW training programs, and CHW certification and credentialing by state agencies, a gap persists in the literature regarding current CHW roles and skills, scope of practice, CHW job settings, and national standards. This collection of contributions addresses this gap by providing information, in a single volume, about CHWs, the roles CHWs play as change agents in their communities, integration of CHWs into healthcare teams, and support and recognition of the CHW profession. The book supports the CHW definition as defined by the American Public Health Association (APHA), Community Health Worker Section (2013), which states, “A community health worker is a frontline public health worker who is a trusted member of and/or has an unusually close understanding of the community served.” The scope of the text follows the framework of the nationally recognized roles of CHWs that came out of a national consensus-building project called “The Community Health Worker (CHW) Core Consensus (C3) Project”. Topics explored among the chapters include: Cultural Mediation Among Individuals, Communities, and Health and Social Service Systems Care Coordination, Case Management, and System Navigation Advocating for Individuals and Communities Building Individual and Community Capacity Implementing Individual and Community Assessments Participating in Evaluation and Research Uniting the Workforce: Building Capacity for a National Association of Community Health Workers Promoting the Health of the Community is a must-have resource for CHWs, those interested in CHW scope of practice and/or certification/credentialing, anyone interested in becoming a CHW, policy-makers, CHW payer systems, CHW supervisors, CHW employers, CHW instructors/trainers, CHW advocates/supporters, and communities served by CHWs.

In the United States, some populations suffer from far greater disparities in health than others. Those disparities are caused not only by fundamental differences in health status across segments of the population, but also because of inequities in factors that impact health status, so-called determinants of health. Only part of an individual's health status depends on his or her behavior and choice; community-wide problems like poverty, unemployment, poor education, inadequate housing, poor public transportation, interpersonal violence, and decaying neighborhoods also contribute to health inequities, as well as the historic and ongoing interplay of structures, policies, and norms that shape lives. When these factors are not optimal in a community, it does not mean they are intractable: such inequities can be mitigated by social policies that can shape health in powerful ways. Communities in Action: Pathways to Health Equity seeks to delineate the causes of and the solutions to health inequities in the United States. This report focuses on what communities can do to promote health equity, what actions are needed by the many and varied stakeholders that are part of communities or support them, as well as the root causes and structural barriers that need to be overcome.

Providing a systematic examination of community-based health promotion, this text offers nine case studies which illustrate what community-driven health promotion means in practice evaluates its potential for achieving improvements in the health of local populations & presents strategies for the future.

How do communities protect and improve the health of their populations? Health care is part of the answer but so are environmental protections, social and educational services, adequate nutrition, and a host of other activities. With concern over funding constraints, making sure such activities are efficient and effective is becoming a high priority. Improving Health in the Community explains how population-based performance monitoring programs can help communities point their efforts in the right direction. Within a broad definition of community health, the committee addresses factors surrounding the implementation of performance monitoring and explores the "why" and "how to" of establishing mechanisms to monitor the performance of those who can influence community health. The book offers a policy framework, applies a multidimensional model of the determinants of health, and provides sets of prototype performance indicators for specific health issues. Improving Health in the Community presents an attainable vision of a process that can achieve community-wide health benefits.

This book articulates a clear four-phase framework for planning, creating, implementing, and evaluating multilevel community health promotion interventions that target individual, physical, and social environments. It breaks down each of the four phases into detailed yet easy-to-follow steps that review important procedures, like identifying a behaviorally based problem within a community, identifying the underlying behavioral determinants to be targeted by the intervention, selecting intervention techniques that target those determinants, and evaluating outcomes to modify the intervention as needed. Guidelines for engaging community members in the design process, building teams, developing a manual of procedures, conducting pilot studies, and other important intervention components are also reviewed. Also reviewed are instructions for applying this framework to the adaption of existing interventions to new contexts. Feature boxes highlight key information and practical takeaways for students and interventionists. Detailed case examples that highlight various health promotion efforts bring the four-phase framework to life, including a recurring example about reducing consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages in middle-school students that follows the process from beginning to end.

The anthrax incidents following the 9/11 terrorist attacks put the spotlight on the nation's public health agencies, placing it under an unprecedented scrutiny that added new dimensions to the complex issues considered in this report. The Future of the Public's Health in the 21st Century reaffirms the vision of Healthy People 2010, and outlines a systems approach to assuring the nation's health in practice, research, and policy. This approach focuses on joining the unique resources and perspectives of diverse sectors and entities and challenges these groups to work in a concerted, strategic way to promote and protect the public's health. Focusing on diverse partnerships as the framework for public health, the book discusses: The need for a shift from an individual to a population-based approach in practice, research, policy, and community engagement. The status of the governmental public health infrastructure and what needs to be improved, including its interface with the health care delivery system. The roles nongovernment actors, such as academia, business, local communities and the media can play in creating a healthy nation. Providing an accessible analysis, this book will be important to public health policy-makers and practitioners, business and community leaders, health advocates, educators and journalists.

Like the First Edition, this book serves as a guide to the science and art of community health promotion. The last decade of research and development has considerably advanced the science of achieving and maintaining health. In this new edition, international contributors share their experiences and expertise about diverse health promotion and point out areas needing adjustment in community implementation, both on an international and domestic level.

Volume numbers determined from Scope of the guidelines, p. 12-13.

Young adulthood - ages approximately 18 to 26 - is a critical period of development with long-lasting implications for a person's economic security, health and well-being. Young adults are key contributors to the nation's workforce and military services and, since many are parents, to the healthy development of the next generation. Although 'millennials' have received attention in the popular media in recent years, young adults are too rarely treated as a distinct population in policy, programs, and research. Instead, they are often grouped with adolescents or, more often, with all adults. Currently, the nation is experiencing economic restructuring, widening inequality, a rapidly rising ratio of older adults, and an increasingly diverse population. The possible transformative effects of these features make focus on young adults especially important. A systematic approach to understanding and responding to the unique circumstances and needs of today's young adults can help to pave the way to a more productive and equitable tomorrow for young adults in particular and our society at large. Investing in The Health and Well-Being of Young Adults describes what is meant by the term young adulthood, who young adults are, what they are doing, and what they need. This study recommends actions that nonprofit programs and federal, state, and local agencies can take to help young adults make a successful transition from adolescence to adulthood. According to this report, young adults should be considered as a separate group from adolescents and older adults. Investing in The Health and Well-Being of Young Adults makes the case that increased efforts to improve high school and college graduate rates and education and workforce development systems that are more closely tied to high-demand economic sectors will help this age group achieve greater opportunity and success. The report also discusses the health status of young adults and makes recommendations to develop evidence-based practices for young adults for medical and behavioral health, including preventions. What happens during the young adult years has profound implications for the rest of the life course, and the stability and progress of society at large depends on how any cohort of young adults fares as a whole. Investing in The Health and Well-Being of Young Adults will provide a roadmap to improving outcomes for this age group as they transition from adolescence to adulthood.

Written for students and health professionals, this guide to health care education program development applies the Nursing Process (or problem-solving approach) to the project. It outlines each step in the process, including planning, design, implementation, promotion, and evaluation. Chapters cover personnel management, community assessment and mobilization, cultural competency, material effectiveness, publicity, and diversity. The education of populations with shared risks, exposures, and behaviors is emphasized. Annotation copyrighted by Book News Inc., Portland, OR.