Blue Cross Foundation Launches Community Health Worker Training Program

The Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota Foundation, Eagan, has launched an initiative with the Health Education - Industry Partnership (HEIP), a project of Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (MnSCU), to develop a standardized, accredited community health worker training program. The program aims to reduce cultural and linguistic barriers to health care, improve quality and cost effectiveness of care, and increase the diversity of the health care workforce in an increasingly diverse Minnesota. This is the first training program of its kind in the state.

The foundation's work with HEIP includes a $199,774 grant to fund collaborative work to develop a community health worker career path - including standardized curriculum, student recruitment and links with the employment market. HEIP is hosted in the College of Allied Health and Nursing at Minnesota State University, Mankato.

"In order for all Minnesotans to be healthy, we need to address the unique cultural and linguistic needs of a growing portion of our population. Community health workers are a tried and true strategy for helping people with unique cultural needs navigate the complex health care system," said Daniel Johnson, Blue Cross Foundation executive director.

Community health workers perform a broad range of health-related functions, such as health education in clinics and neighborhoods. They also work with health care organizations to increase cultural competence, improve access to health care for racial and ethnic minorities in Minnesota, improve the quality of care for chronically ill individuals, promote healthy communities and educate families about access to and use of health care coverage.

State demographers estimate a minority growth rate of 113 percent in Minnesota between 1990 and 2000. Research has found that patients who speak a primary language other than English and don't have access to an interpreter are less likely to access preventive care, seek cancer screening, keep appointments or comply with treatment, the foundation reports.

"Community health workers are an identified industry need, but there is currently no system for their training and professional development. The MnSCU system is the primary educator of nursing and allied health care employees in Minnesota and we look forward to filling this gap," said Mary Rothchild, MnSCU project manager, Office of the Chancellor.

In 2003, Blue Cross Foundation studies of community health workers and the organizations that employ them found that these bicultural, bilingual workers are widely used and valued in Minnesota. Employers find them very effective in helping to provide services to racial and ethnic populations (see MCF's News Archives).

Employers also support standardized training and intend to hire more community health workers in the next three years. Accordingly, the Blue Cross Foundation's grant to HEIP also aims to increase and diversify the health care workforce in Minnesota, in order to meet worker shortages and address racial disparities in health.

Since it started in 1998, HEIP has worked as a collaboration among higher education, the health care industry, professional and trade associations, and state agencies to address critical health care workforce issues in Minnesota. Its vision is to improve the health of Minnesotans through a well-educated and appropriately trained workforce, sufficient to meet the demand of citizens of Minnesota.

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