Am J Public Health. 2026 Sep;116(S4):S305-S313. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2026.308655.
ABSTRACT
Objectives. To examine patterns of community health worker (CHW) core roles within the Community Health Workers for COVID Response and Resilient Communities (CCR) program through a latent class analysis (LCA). Methods. We used data from a CHW self-report survey (n = 689) conducted in the United States during February and March 2024. LCA was used to examine whether distinct classes existed according to patterns of reported engagement in CHW core roles in the CCR program. Results. The study findings supported a 2-class model: (1) “low assessment and evaluation CHWs,” which represented 52.6% of CHWs, and (2) “full range of core roles CHWs,” which represented 47.4% of CHWs. Conclusions. This study is the first to use LCA to identify patterns of CHW core roles. The fairly even split between the 2 classes suggests that a substantial proportion of CCR CHWs performed the full range of core roles and indicates assessment and evaluation as key areas to target for increased CHW involvement. Public Health Implications. Our findings can inform organizational policy to ensure that CHWs are supported in performing the full range of core roles. (Am J Public Health. 2026;116(S4):S305-S313. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2026.308655).
PMID:42647807 | DOI:10.2105/AJPH.2026.308655
