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WHAT WE DO

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The mission of the CHW Center for Research and Evaluation is to conduct and promote CHW-led research and evaluation that uses common indicators and participatory practices.

OUR FOCUS AREAS

1

RESEARCH & EVALUATION

We produce and disseminate applied research and evaluation consistent with best and promising practices in the CHW field.

2

CAPACITY BUILDING

We provide training for CHWs, researchers and evaluators to conduct research and evaluation in line with best practices.

3

PROMOTION OF INDICATORS

We develop, pilot, and disseminate process and outcome indicators that contribute to the integrity and sustainability of CHW programs.

POPULAR/PEOPLE'S EDUCATION

The CHW-CRE uses popular education as a theoretical framework, an organizing philosophy, and an educational methodology. Also referred to as “people’s education,” popular education creates settings in which people most affected by inequities can share what they know, learn from others in their community, and use their knowledge to create a more just and equitable society. Popular education and the CHW model grew out of many of the same historical roots and share key principles, such as the ideas that people most affected by inequity are the experts about their own lives, and that experiential knowledge is just as important as (and sometimes more important than) academic knowledge.

 

The Center provides popular education workshops; facilitation; and mentoring to build the skills of researcher/evaluators, CHWs, their colleagues, and other interested parties to use popular education to actualize community-engaged research and evaluation in all aspects of their work.

WHO WE ARE

The CHW-CRE is made up of CHWs and longtime allies organized into a Leadership Team, a CHW Council, a Researchers Council, and an Advisory Group. 

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OUR HISTORY

Responding to the need for common process and outcome indicators for CHW practice, in 2015, CHWs and researcher allies from five states founded the National CHW Common Indicators (CI) Project. Given growth in both our mission and our constituency, in 2023 we became the CHW Center for Research and Evaluation (CHW-CRE).

THE CHW COMMON INDICATORS

Our indicators were developed over the course of four years, based on multiple engagements with CHWs, longtime allies, researchers, program staff, and funders. These indicators can be measured in any CHW program, no matter the setting or community in which the program is based.

PROCESSES

  • Compensations, Benefits, and Advancement

  • Enactment of the 10 Core Roles

  • CHW-Facilitated Referrals

  • Involvement in Decision and Policy Making

  • Integration into Teams

  • Supportive and Reflective CHW Supervision

OUTCOMES

  • Participant Physical, Mental, and Emotional Health

  • Participant Health Care and Social Needs

  • Participant Social Support

  • Participant Empowerment

  • Policy & System Change: Program/Employer Level

  • Policy & System Change: State Level

WE BELIEVE...

Evaluation reflects the point of view of those who conduct it.

Consistent data will promote sustainable funding of the CHW field.

Indicators will contribute to the viability of grassroots CHW programs.

Measurement drives practice. Carefully chosen process and outcome measure will support CHWs to play a wide range of roles.

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