Community Health Workers Simply Save Lives

Community Health Workers (CHWs) stand at the intersection of healthcare and health equity. They are the new faces providing care to high-risk populations. It falls to CHWs to identify patient needs, find solutions, and help the most vulnerable of our patients navigate a complex healthcare system. They are mobilized within at-risk communities in healthcare deserts, metropolitan areas, rural areas, and anywhere the need is great.

How CHWs make a Positive Impact in Modern Healthcare

CHWs, especially those associated with local, independent community pharmacies, are poised to make a difference. They are ready to address patient needs, whether food insecurities, medication affordability, housing, transportation, access to care, or any other social determinant of health (SDoH) issues. They are ready because they will be helping their neighbors.

A Community Health Worker helps her patient.

Pharmacy CHWs, while they often work in the neighborhood pharmacy, will shop in the same stores, go to the same churches and schools, speak the same languages, and live in the same neighborhood as high-risk patients.

There will be no time delay building trust with someone directing them how to access the healthcare system. That trust already exists. It exists within the walls of the pharmacy where these pharmacy CHWs work. It also extends into the neighborhoods where these pharmacy CHWs live, shop, learn, and pray.

Pharmacy CHWs coordinate with Clinical Pharmacists

Pharmacy CHWs working in close coordination with a Clinical Pharmacist have, perhaps, the greatest potential to improve the health of vulnerable patients and communities, and save significant healthcare dollars as a result.

Scoff if you will, but deny them to your own detriment. This blog brings pharmacy CHW stories (and commentary) to you and will illustrate the value of utilizing the “pharmacy on the corner” to expand healthcare access, solve SDoH issues, and act as primary care extenders to those most in need.

An Example of Why Community Health Workers Matter

This healthcare example actually happened in my pharmacy. Some details are omitted for brevity.

One of my pharmacy CHWs (we have 10 on staff) was making outreach calls. Yes, pharmacies really do that. It’s a personal touch. We like people.

She could not contact a patient, which was a bit strange since we had spoken with this patient less than 30 days before. Through their patient record, we noticed there had been a lapse in the filling of long-acting anti-psychotic injection.

Since my CHW is local (a common theme, because all healthcare is local), she knew the patient’s family and contacted them. Because the family knew and trusted this CHW, they supplied current contact information for the patient.

The CHW reached the patient, who was incoherent and appeared to be having an acute mental health crisis. The CHW immediately elevated this situation to the Pharmacist on duty, who escalated it to the primary care physician (PCP). The PCP said they hadn’t seen the patient in months and contacted the patient’s mental health provider.

This acute episode was handled in a matter of hours. On our next check-in, the patient was receiving psychiatric services. I ran into this patient at a vaccination outreach clinic a few months later. I had a good conversation with them and verified they were still receiving psychiatric services.

Folks, local community health workers truly make a difference!