We engage faculty and trainees involved in community health initiatives and learning health systems approaches to reducing health inequity. We support the following ongoing services.
Community Health Worker Institute at Montefiore Einstein
The Community Health Worker Institute (CHWI) strives to improve health equity by optimizing community health worker integration within clinical care teams. Community health workers are a bridge between social and clinical care and serve as an invaluable workforce for health systems. Using embedded implementation research, the CHWI aims to demonstrate the value and effectiveness of community health workers as an innovative workforce solution to address adverse social determinants of health, improve access to healthcare, and serve as an entry point to sustainable healthcare careers for local community experts. The CHW Institute is embedded within Montefiore’s clinical service lines where it serves as a resource for multiple departments. The CHW Institute optimizes the recruitment, training, deployment, continuing professional development and integration of community health workers (CHWs).
Community Health Systems Lab
The Community Health Systems Lab (CHSL) employs both the science of implementation and expertise of communities to reimagine how community health can be delivered and valued. Our aim is to accelerate health equity by working with local communities through innovative empowerment structures using an assets-based approach. CHSL aims to close the gap between evidence and practice in a manner that elevates community involvement while applying implementation research methodology to drive improvement. Responding to community priorities, CHSL identifies scalable solutions culled from global best practice that leverage community assets and community-driven approaches to reduce disparities in health outcomes. Through a partnership with Integrate Health and by expanding beyond the traditional boundaries of geography and embracing a global-to-local philosophy, CHSL adapts best practices and integrates novel technologies from around the world to test interventions to optimize health outcomes and reduce disparities.
CHSL works in close partnership with the CHWI at Montefiore Einstein to evaluate the impact of the institute and disseminate findings both within the health system to improve program delivery and to contribute to growing scholarship on the Social Determinants of Health. Our team consists of faculty researchers, data analysts, and community experts, collaborating on important implementation science and health equity research questions with a shared mission to bring high quality health care to all.