All training can be found on the event calendar on IPHA’s website.

If you have any recommendations, topic ideas, or speakers for our Lunch & Learns, please complete this form and we will try our best to accommodate your recommendations.

The Little Resource Center

The Little Resource Center (TLRC) provides emotional, educational, and material support to families and caregivers in the Southernmost region of Illinois. TLRC is grassroots, peer-led organization and CHWs are at the heart of everything we do. The idea for TLRC emerged when local CHWs came together to address issues they saw facing families in the region, specifically families who are expecting, postpartum, or with very young children. Our CHWs are working one-on-one with families — we have CHWs crossed-trained as birth doulas and lactation consultants, peer recovery specialists, and case managers. We recognize those in the community doing the work and offering them training and professional identity to increase their ability to serve. Little but mighty – CHWs at The Little Resource Center are doing the hard work and “heart work” for Southern Illinois families.

Chastity Mays has dedicated over a decade to serving Southern Illinois as a doula and community health worker. In December 2024, she watched two members of her family, Maleah Mays and David Mitchell, continue this legacy by completing their Community Health Worker (CHW) Core Skills training with the Illinois Public Health Association (IPHA).

David and Maleah are now part of a CHW registered apprenticeship program led by the HAP Foundation in partnership with IPHA. Over the next year, they will gain further training and field experience to carry on a family tradition of healing and service in the Carbondale community.

"Becoming a CHW means that I can help my community in ways I couldn’t before. It means being a good example and a safe space to come to," said Maleah, an English major in her senior year at SIU Carbondale. "I want to make the community feel like there are resources out there for them. And be knowledgeable about them."

David views his role as a community health worker as part of his goal to work with local youth. "Being able to impact others’ lives in a positive way is what I feel like I was put on earth to do. Becoming a CHW is just an extension of that."

"I am so proud of both Maleah and David for committing to becoming CHWs. We need more young adults who can relate to their age group and bring the grassroots level of care to those who are in need," Chastity said. "David has a passion for helping youth, and young black men are so needed as positive role models in the community. Maleah is very compassionate, a great listener, and resourceful, and will be an excellent addition to the CHW community."

Both are completing their apprenticeship fieldwork at TLRC which was co-founded by Chastity and other CHWs to expand family and birth support services across the region.

To learn more about The Little Resource Center visit their website.

Chicago Commons

For over 130 years, Chicago Commons has empowered individuals, families, and communities to overcome poverty and systemic barriers and embrace opportunities to thrive across generations. We support families' crucial role in shaping a child’s development, caring for seniors and vulnerable adults, and uplifting communities. Honoring our settlement roots, we provide life-changing resources to families in under-resourced communities.

Chicago Commons is implementing CHWs to help families thrive across generations. The CHW team at Chicago Commons is comprised of eight members. They are expanding their health support, education, medical, dental, and mental health services. This will allow them to establish more relationships and partnerships in the community to provide families with the services and resources they need. They work to fill the gaps in care and eliminate any barriers that families may have.

Chicago Commons partners with the City of Chicago and other community organizations to provide necessary resources. They provide training for parents through parent meetings, along with resource fairs and pop-up events, creating spaces for families to access essential resources and support. The CHWs assist families with signing up for health insurance and connect them with medical and dental providers. They conduct health screenings for children, including hearing and vision checks, and provide referrals to ensure families can follow up with necessary care. If children have any nutritional challenges, they collaborate with a nutritionist to help them reach their health goals. They teach families how to make doctor appointments and recognize when to seek care. Most recently, they have been providing migrant families with health resources including free medical, dental, and mental health services. Above all, their CHWs are always available to help with anything families need, whether it’s navigating healthcare or simply offering a listening ear.

“Chicago Commons empowers community health workers (CHWs) through ongoing professional development opportunities, including specialized training to enhance their skills and knowledge. Additionally, Commons fosters meaningful community engagement by creating opportunities for our staff to connect with and actively contribute to the communities we serve, ensuring their work remains impactful and rooted in the needs of our community.” – Krystal Washington, Health Manager

“Our work is making a significant positive impact on Community Health Workers (CHWs), who play a crucial role in supporting families in this post-pandemic era. CHWs consistently keep families informed about resources and events in the community, empowering them to take a proactive approach to maintaining their health. This includes encouraging families to schedule regular checkups, visit doctors on time, and make appointments in advance, helping to shift the mindset away from seeing a doctor only when necessary. By emphasizing the importance of preventive care, CHWs are breaking stigmas and fostering healthier habits for families.” – Elizabeth Camarillo, Health Aide

You can connect families to Chicago Commons’s services by referring them to their inquiry form.

To learn more about Chicago Commons visit their website.

Birth Equity and CHWs

CHWs can make a positive impact on expecting mothers, new mothers, and their babies. Research has consistently shown that nurse midwives and CHWs can improve birth and breastfeeding outcomes.

A study was conducted at a small, community-based, nonprofit, charitable women’s clinic in Jackson, Mississippi that serves a predominately Medicaid population on the benefits of combining the services of midwives and CHWs. Getty Isreal, MPH found that, “The midwifery/community health worker model could significantly impact maternity deserts and birth disparities in Mississippi, but it will require changing state law and policies as well as augmenting the health-care system to make room for a free-standing birth center where nurse midwives will have the freedom and protection to practice their full scope of work.”

Another study launched an initiative to bring patients, advocates, providers, researchers, policymakers, and system innovators together to bridge the chasm between pregnancy and health across the life course. McCloskey et al. stated that “Doulas, as well as specially trained maternal CHWs, can go on to play a vital role in the full postpartum year as mothers navigate both their own and their infants’ health and connections to needed community resources.”

Falconi et al. conducted a study aimed to assess the relationship between doulas and health outcomes of females enrolled in Medicaid-affiliated plans in the U.S. They found “evidence to support this endeavor, by showing the positive impact doulas can make toward decreasing maternal health risks. This study demonstrates how partnership with doulas was associated with reductions in cesarean deliveries and preterm births, and improved adherence to postpartum care recommendations.”

Blanchard et al. did a mixed-methods systematic review of studies published between 1996 and 2017 where differing CHW intervention strategies were relied upon to improve maternal and newborn health. They concluded that, “Though evidence was somewhat limited, it showed that CHW interventions have equitably improved maternal and newborn health service utilization or home-based practices and even reduced inequities in neonatal mortality in some contexts.”

When Wheeler et al. looked at the use of doulas and CHWs to improve maternal health equity in Medicaid they stated that, “part of what makes doulas and perinatal community health workers effective is that they are more aligned with the client and community than the system.”

McCue et al. studied the impact of CHWs conducting home visits and prenatal care with ethno-racially diverse pregnant women in the Southwest U.S. They concluded that, “In Arizona, this study provides strong evidence for sustainable investment for rural, tribal, and border CHW home visitation sites to ensure MCH care continuity and equity among ethno-racially and geographically diverse women.”

IPHA implemented a new Strategic Plan for 2025-2029. The vision is “Health equity and wellbeing for all Illinois communities.” One of the goals is to “Advance health equity.” As these studies show, CHWs can play a large role in advancing health equity, including but not limited to birth equity. To read more about the studies done follow the links below.

• Integrating Community Health Workers and Nurse Midwives on the Health-Care Team to Improve Birth and Breastfeeding Outcomes – Getty Isreal, MPH
• Bridging the Chasm between Pregnancy and Health over the Life Course: A National Agenda for Research and Action – McCloskey et al.
• Role of Doulas in Improving Maternal Health and Health Equity Among Medicaid Enrollees, 2014-2023 – Falconi et al.
• Effects of community health worker interventions on socioeconomic inequities in maternal and newborn health in low-income and middle-income countries: a mixed-methods systematic review – Blanchard et al.
• Maternal Health Equity in Medicaid: Doulas and Perinatal Community Health Workers – Wheeler et al.
• Impact of a Community Health Worker (CHW) Home Visiting Intervention on Any and Adequate Prenatal Care Among Ethno-Racially Diverse Pregnant Women of the US Southwest – McCue et al.

References

• Israel G. Integrating Community Health Workers and Nurse Midwives on the Health-Care Team to Improve Birth and Breastfeeding Outcomes. J Perinat Educ. 2023 Jan 1;32(1):8-13. doi: 10.1891/JPE-2022-0025. PMID: 36632517; PMCID: PMC9822562.
• McCloskey L, Bernstein J, The Bridging The Chasm Collaborative, Amutah-Onukagha N, Anthony J, Barger M, Belanoff C, Bennett T, Bird CE, Bolds D, Brenna BW, Carter R, Celi A, Chachere B, Crear-Perry J, Crossno C, Cruz-Davis A, Damus K, Dangel A, Depina Z, Deroze P, Dieujuste C, Dude A, Edmonds J, Enquobahrie D, Eromosele E, Ferranti E, Fitzmaurice M, Gebel C, Blount LG, Greiner A, Gullo S, Haddad A, Hall N, Handler A, Headen I, Heelan-Fancher L, Hernandez T, Johnson K, Jones E, Jones N, Klaman S, Lund B, Mallampalli M, Marcelin L, Marshall C, Maynard B, McCage S, Mitchell S, Molina R, Montasir S, Nicklas J, Northrup A, Norton A, Oparaeke E, Ramos A, Rericha S, Rios E, Bloch JR, Ryan C, Sarfaty S, Seely E, Souter V, Spain M, Spires R, Theberge S, Thompson T, Wachman M, Yarrington T, Yee LM, Zera C; Working Group Advisors; Clayton J, Lachance C. Bridging the Chasm between Pregnancy and Health over the Life Course: A National Agenda for Research and Action. Womens Health Issues. 2021 May-Jun;31(3):204-218. doi: 10.1016/j.whi.2021.01.002. Epub 2021 Mar 8. PMID: 33707142; PMCID: PMC8154664.
• Falconi AM, Ramirez L, Cobb R, Levin C, Nguyen M, Inglis T. Role of Doulas in Improving Maternal Health and Health Equity Among Medicaid Enrollees, 2014‒2023. Am J Public Health. 2024 Nov;114(11):1275-1285. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2024.307805. PMID: 39356988; PMCID: PMC11447808.
• Blanchard AK, Prost A, Houweling TAJ. Effects of community health worker interventions on socioeconomic inequities in maternal and newborn health in low-income and middle-income countries: a mixed-methods systematic review. BMJ Glob Health. 2019 Jun 16;4(3):e001308. doi: 10.1136/bmjgh-2018-001308. PMID: 31275619; PMCID: PMC6577316.
• Wheeler, Y., Eldridge, G., & Moore, J. E. (2023, September). Maternal Health Equity in Medicaid: Doulas and Perinatal Community Health Workers. Medicaid Innovation. https://medicaidinnovation.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Doulas-and-Perinatal-CHW-FINAL.pdf
• McCue K, Sabo S, Wightman P, Butler M, Pilling V, Jiménez D, Annorbah R, Rumann S. Impact of a Community Health Worker (CHW) Home Visiting Intervention on Any and Adequate Prenatal Care Among Ethno-Racially Diverse Pregnant Women of the US Southwest. Matern Child Health J. 2022 Dec;26(12):2485-2495. doi: 10.1007/s10995-022-03506-2. Epub 2022 Oct 21. PMID: 36269498; PMCID: PMC9747829.

Thank you for taking the time to read this newsletter. We strive to keep CHWs, their employers, educators, and allies informed and connected. If you would like to contribute information for a future newsletter, please contact Mariah Menietti at mmenietti@ipha.com. We look forward to showcasing ways in which CHWs are making an impact in Illinois.