Kansas community health worker (CHW) reach - the kansas department of health and environment's (kdhe) program to implement community health worker-mediated services for RE-engagement to care and…

Kansas community health worker (CHW) reach - the kansas department of health and environment's (kdhe) program to implement community health worker-mediated services for RE-engagement to care and outreach for persons with HIV in rural communities (reach: rural RE-engagement and care using chws for persons with HIV) funds will expand on current momentum and the existing community health worker workforce to work with persons with HIV (PWH). Kdhe will build on existing public health infrastructure by implementing community health workers to focus on HIV strategies with an emphasis on reducing health disparities for priority populations. Priority populations of focus will be kansans with HIV not in care and/or not virally suppressed in southeast and southwest kansas, as well as geary county. These rural areas have documented provider shortages and transportation barriers. Kdhe will identify and deploy a dedicated CHW workforce to connect and support patients to the continuum of care and services which extend the benefits of clinical interventions and address social determinants and other support needs to optimize health outcomes. This will be done through 1) dedicated health department chws to support comprehensive HIV care and treatment services, and testing services to patients with HIV not in care and/or not virally suppressed living in rural communities; 2) partnerships with CDC-funded programs (HIV, substance use disorder) to support use of mental health and substance use disorder services and other essential support services by RE-engaging patients with HIV living in rural communities; 3) assessment of cost-effectiveness of CHW-mediated RE-engagement and outreach to HIV care and treatment services for persons with HIV living in rural communities 4) culturally and linguistically responsive services for persons, especially for black and hispanic/latino persons living in rural communities, to reduce stigma. Chws have proven they are the perfect workforce to achieve these outcomes as they are trusted members of the communities they serve. Activities will build on existing infrastructure managed through the community health worker section within the bureau of health promotion, under the division of public health at kansas department of health and environment. This includes a CHW certification pathway that has trained over 200 chws through a state endorsed CHW curriculum, and a CHW curriculum that has been translated to spanish to decrease language barriers and increase promotora(s) throughout the state. An HIV kansas-specific educational module will be added to CHW education modules on various topics. HIV content will be added to the technical assistance that the CHW program team provides to healthcare organizations. This work will be completed in collaboration with the kdhe HIV/STI section to successfully train specialized chws /promotora(s) in HIV care management and implement chws/promotora(s) into healthcare organizations with HIV teams. Kdhe aims to achieve improvements from baseline in multiple short-term and intermediate outcomes associated with patients with HIV not in care and not virally suppressed by the end of program period.