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COVID-19 has served to exacerbate existing health disparities and inequities, most—if not all—of which can be traced to the social determinants of health (SDOH) that affect specific populations and communities. Essential to health and health systems long before, community health workers are experts in addressing SDOH in community-based settings; however, they have yet to be mobilized as part of the COVID-19 response both in the US and internationally. We use data from our mixed-methods study with supervisors (n=6), Executive Directors (EDs) (n=7), and CHWs (n=90) to describe the critical role that CHWs can play to assist in response to COVID-19 using New York State's (NYS) as a case example. Building on these findings, we raise specific CHW workforce issues and propose recommendations for how to mobilize this workforce in national pandemic response efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the integration of community-based providers within interprofessional health teams has been recommended by policymakers worldwide, there is limited research on how medical and community-based providers inform and participate in health research. Our study uses cross-sectional data from 169 Community Health Workers (CHWs), 62 nurses, and 31 physicians within Brazil's Family Health Strategy Program. Using an integrated framework of social cognitive theories and Theory for Planned Behavior, a reliable and valid instrument was developed to examine differences in past research involvement, and opinions about health and public health research (research efficacy and perceptions of research process). Descriptive frequencies and ANOVA F-tests were performed. Results indicated that CHWs has greater mistrust in the research process, and were not involved in substantive aspects of research (specification of aims, data collection, analysis, dissemination). Nurses compared to CHWs recruited participants to research studies, and had greater willingness to learn, participate and implement research initiatives. Physicians compared to CHWs and nurses developed survey instruments and disseminated research. For community-based and medical providers to be involved in all aspects of research, researchers ought to set up structured infrastructures of community collaborative boards. Furthermore, researchers can test our scale with other providers working within health teams globally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]