The Effectiveness of a Community Health Worker Program to Improve Chronic Disease Management in Immigrant and Minority Communities

Abstract: We investigate the health impacts of a community health worker (CHW) program in an urban clinic serving uninsured and underinsured patients, the vast majority of whom are non-English speaking and/or have recently immigrated to the United States. Over a three-year period between January 2019 and March 2022, 1,139 clinic patients were invited to participate in a CHW program based on evidence of chronic disease including obesity, hypertension, and diabetes. During a 90-day program, enrollees demonstrated statistically significant improvement in clinical values including weight (mean reduction of 2.8 pounds), hemoglobin A1c (mean reduction of 0.49), and blood pressure (mean systolic pressure reduction of 3.1 points). We offer initial evidence on the cost-effectiveness of this intervention relative to other means of achieving similar outcomes and suggest that CHW programs are a high-value intervention within immigrant and minority communities.