ATHENS, Ohio— GRC Associate Director Heather Reed Robinson recently joined community health professionals from across Ohio to more closely examine the future of community health workers (CHW) in Appalachia and provide insights on how to build a stronger bridge between patients and health systems in rural Ohio.
The Community Health Workers Stakeholder Convening at Ohio University (OU) tapped Robinson to present key findings from the 2018 Community Health Worker Statewide Assessment, a holistic study of CHW training, certification, employment, utilization, and funding commissioned by the Ohio Department of Health with funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The report was conducted by the Ohio Colleges of Medicine’s Government Resource Center (GRC) and led by GRC’s Dr. Cara Whalen Smith, PT, DPT, MPH, CHES, who served as principal investigator for the assessment.
“Local health professionals understand patient needs best because they live and work in the same community as their patients,” said Robinson. “For the first time, we now have a comprehensive and compelling view of just how critical community health workers are to stronger patient health outcomes – especially in rural Ohio.”
The stakeholder meeting featured a community health worker panel and presentations by health experts from Ohio University’s College of Health and Sciences, the Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Affairs and the Northwest Ohio Pathways HUB, a regional clinical-community care coordination system that addresses social determinants of health.
The participants used the day’s presentations to eye next steps in strengthening community health workers’ roles in building better community-health system linkages and improved patient health outcomes.
Additional moderators and presenters at the meeting included:
-OU College of Health and Science Professions (CHSP) Dean Randy Leite.
-OU CHW Training Program Director Kerri Shaw, MSW, LISW-S.
-OU Voinovich School of Leadership & Public Affairs Associate Professor Lesli Johnson, PhD.
-Northwest Ohio Pathways HUB Director Jan Ruma.
The event was sponsored by the Herbert E. Eglie Patient Advocacy Fund.
Heather Reed Robinson has over 25 years of experience in statewide health consulting, policy and leadership. She has served as Director of Ohio’s State Office of Rural Health at the Ohio Department of Health, president of the National Organization of State Offices of Rural Health, and member of the National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services. A published co-author in the National Rural Health Association’s The Journal of Rural Health, Heather holds a master’s degree in Community Health Education.