News

The Center for Healthcare Research and Transformation (CHRT), an independent nonprofit impact organization housed at the University of Michigan, is the new host organization for the Michigan Community Health Worker Alliance (MiCHWA), an organization that works to advance and train community health workers across the state and achieve policies that lead to sustainable financing of CHW programs.

As part of the agreement, MiCHWA’s two full-time staff members will be housed in CHRT’s office. Previously, MiCHWA was hosted at the University of Michigan School of Social Work, but sought a new home to provide additional health-related connections needed to launch a statewide registry of community health workers, as well as offer policy expertise to promote evidence-based policy change.

“MiCHWA thanks the University of Michigan School of Social Work for providing a supportive home for our birth and rapid growth since 2011. Our move to CHRT is an exciting development. CHRT’s policy, research, and communications strengths, combined with its commitment to community health workers, will further MiCHWA’s statewide efforts to promote and sustain CHWs,” says Edie Kieffer, M.P.H., Ph.D., MiCHWA co-founder and steering committee member, and Professor of Social Work at the U-M School of Social Work.

Community health workers help link individuals to the health and social services available in their communities, playing a key role in increasing community members’ health knowledge and empowerment, ensuring they receive culturally sensitive care.

MiCHWA and the steering committee that guides MICWHA’s work are currently focused on the following four key areas:

• Expanding community health worker (CHW) training across Michigan, including new training sites in Northern Michigan, the Upper Peninsula, Muskegon, and Battle Creek.
• Building an online CHW Registry, set to launch this September, that will serve both CHWs and CHW employers by providing a centralized system for Michigan CHWs to post their professional profiles and MiCHWA CHW training certificates, and for employers to post CHW positions.
• Working with partner organizations and MiCHWA work groups to promote policies that will promote continued, long-term CHW sustainability.
• Strengthening communications among CHWs and stakeholders through the MiCHWA CHW Network, which serves as a vehicle for CHWs to connect, share resources, offer support, and plan networking activities

“Hosting MiCHWA provides CHRT an exciting opportunity to contribute to and help accelerate the evidence-based work related to the critical role Community Health Workers can play in increasing access to health care,” says Marianne Udow-Phillips, CHRT’s executive director.

For further questions, contact a member of CHRT at chrt-info@umich.edu or call 734-998-7555.

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About the Center for Healthcare Research & Transformation (CHRT)
Founded in 2007, CHRT is an independent 501(c)(3) impact organization at the University of Michigan. CHRT’s experts work with decision makers to improve population health as well as healthcare access and quality by transforming healthcare research and evidence into actionable policy approaches. CHRT’s affiliation with the University of Michigan affords access to a wide array of subject matter and clinical experts.

About the Michigan Community Health Worker Alliance (MiCHWA)

MiCHWA is a statewide alliance comprised of community health workers, organizational partners and other community health worker (CHW) supporters who work to promote and sustain the integration of CHWs  into health and human services organizations throughout Michigan through coordinated changes in policy and workforce development. Housed at the Center for Healthcare Research & Transformation, MiCHWA began in 2011 at the University of Michigan School of Social Work.