I wrote about this topic in my most recent article for the Huffington Post.

I believe in addition to the cost-savings Community Health Workers (CHW) offer helping to fill in gaps in healthcare where professional health providers don’t exist, they also offer a second cost-savings benefit.

This benefit is largely unseen. But CHWs may be even more effective than HCPs at helping patients begin healthier behaviors. As members of their community drawn to serve their neighbors, CHWs foster relationship, trust and self-regard in those they see more than most of us feel from visits with our more highly trained health professionals.

For the full article click here.