News

We conducted a community-based participatory research study examining the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on people experiencing homelessness in Tippecanoe, Indiana. Read about the study and our findings in BMC Public Health.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-021-11687-8

Our Director, Natalia Rodriguez, writes about the importance of expanding the CHW workforce. Read the full editorial published in the American Journal of Public Health.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2022.306775

Read our take on the troubling claims made in the US Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH)’s recent report on efforts to address the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on people, and our call for accountability.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2022.306768

An interest in, and the need for, Community Health Workers (CHWs) in the United States is growing exponentially. CHWs possess a unique ability to relate to and build trust with communities in order to improve clinical outcomes, while building individual and community capacity. Given their critical role in addressing social determinants of health, expanding the CHW workforce is crucial. However, creating CHW jobs, facilitating training and certification, and establishing sustainable financing models to support this workforce has been challenging.

We conducted a mixed-methods study consisting of an online survey and focus group discussions assessed the strengths, practices, and challenges to CHW workforce sustainability and expansion in the state of Indiana, including perspectives from both CHWs and employers.

Full article: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12913-022-07469-6

Our study, Examining multilevel determinants of cervical cancer and acceptability of screening innovations to address disparities among Hispanic women in Lake County, Indiana, was awarded the 2021 Indiana CITI Trailblazer Award. In partnership with Planned Parenthood Great Northwest, Hawai’i, Alaska, Indiana, Kentucky (PPGNHAIK) we will explore patient barriers to cervical cancer screening at Planned Parenthood Lake County clinics and if and how innovative screening strategies (i.e. self-sampling, rapid testing, community health worker delivered education and navigation) would address these barriers, their potential effects or consequences on the community, and how these innovations should best be implemented.