Minnesota Increases Reliance on Bilingual, Bicultural Health Care Workers, Blue Cross Foundation Study Shows

Minnesota is becoming ever more reliant on community health workers and interpreters to help bridge linguistic and cultural differences between the health system and the state's increasingly diverse population, according to a new report by the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota Foundation. In 44 Minnesota counties - most with minority populations of 5 percent or greater - 90 percent of the 156 health and human services organizations interviewed employ community health workers, interpreters or both. And eight out of 10 of those organizations find them "extremely effective" in helping the organizations meet the health-related needs of their clients.

"The public health experience over the past 100 years clearly shows the wisdom of reaching out to new arrivals and other hard-to-reach populations in our state. Without interpreters and community health workers, many Minnesotans today would lead sicker, potentially shorter lives simply because they don't understand or can't communicate within the health care system," said Kaying Hang, M.P.H., a senior program officer for the Blue Cross Foundation.

"Community health workers, in particular, are playing an increasingly important role in the health care system by diversifying and building up the pool of front-line health services workers, as well," Hang said.

Lesser known in Minnesota than interpreters, community health workers are common in other countries and parts of the United States. As bilingual, bicultural members of the ethnic communities they serve, they are able to explain health issues in a way that other community members understand. Community health workers perform a broad range of health-related functions, such as health education in clinics and neighborhoods, consulting with health care organizations on cultural issues, helping homebound patients follow treatment recommendations, and translating and interpreting.

Other findings from the survey include:

• The need for community health workers and interpreters will grow. Most survey respondents intend to hire more community health workers and interpreters in the near future.
• Employers hire community health workers based on personal traits and train them for their positions.
• Employers support standardized training for community health workers and interpreters, in order to increase both the size and the preparedness of this workforce.
• Due to worker shortage, difficulty serving small pockets of diversity, and inconsistent funding, there are challenges to employing community health workers and interpreters.

"Studies show that community health workers do effective preventive work, reduce cultural and linguistic barriers to care, help patients successfully navigate the complex health care system and improve the quality and cost-effectiveness of care. As a foundation, we can act on this information and our survey findings to further the cultural competence of the health care system, itself, while helping those who may feel most isolated from it," said Daniel Johnson, executive director of the Blue Cross Foundation.

To that end, Johnson noted that the foundation is exploring the development and piloting of a community health worker training program together with practicing workers, other health care organizations and higher education.

The report, "Critical Links: Study Findings and Forum Highlights on the Use of Community Health Workers and Interpreters," is available on the Blue Cross Foundation's Web site.

top