An assessment of pharmacist perceptions and experiences with community health workers

Background: The American Public Health Association defines a community health worker (CHW) as "a trusted member of and/or has an unusually close understanding of the community served." Both CHWs and pharmacists have shown they are well-equipped to produce positive outcomes in chronic disease management, but there is still a gap in the literature regarding the CHW-pharmacist relationship.

Objective: The objective of this study was to assess and describe pharmacist perceptions and experiences with CHWs.

Methods: An online survey was distributed to pharmacists via state and national pharmacy organizations in the following states: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, and Wisconsin. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize demographics and pharmacist experiences with CHWs.

Results: The survey received 241 responses and 212 (88.0%) met inclusion criteria. Of the 212 eligible respondents, the survey was sufficiently completed by 163 (76.9%). These 163 complete responses were included in the data analysis. Fifty-eight (35.6%) respondents reported working with a CHW and 105 (64.4%) reported never working with a CHW. Fifty-two (89.7%) respondents who previously worked with a CHW were strongly interested or interested in continuing to work with a CHW. Sixty-one (58.1%) respondents without experience were strongly interested or interested in working with a CHW. The reported improvements seen with the addition of a CHW to the healthcare team included: improved patient empowerment, improved clinical patient outcomes, decreased workload of other health care professionals, increased healthcare knowledge, increased healthcare utilization, and increased medication and/or treatment plan adherence.

Conclusion: Pharmacists recognize the benefit of working with a CHW and their contributions to patient care and want to continue working collaboratively. Collaborative pharmacist-CHW relationships should be a priority for optimizing care through community pharmacies and will require a shift in the current structure of community pharmacy services.