A Qualitative Exploration of Multi-level Factors that Support Effective Community Health Worker-Social Worker Collaboration

TL;DR

This study explores what helps community health workers and social workers work well together to improve healthcare for people with complex needs.

Contribution

The study identifies multilevel factors that support effective collaboration between community health workers and social workers.

Findings

Effective collaboration requires clear roles, communication, and mutual respect.

Organizational support, training, and shared resources are crucial for successful teamwork.

Power dynamics and policy support at the societal level influence collaboration success.

Abstract

Interdisciplinary collaboration is critical for improving healthcare delivery through coordinated care and streamlined healthcare navigation. Community health workers (CHWs) and social workers (SWs) are uniquely positioned to address the needs of individuals with complex social and health challenges. Despite the integration of CHWs and SWs into health and community settings, there is a paucity of literature on what facilitates successful collaboration between these two workforces. This qualitative study, conducted from April 2022 to June 2023, explores multilevel factors related to CHW-SW collaboration in health and community settings.

We conducted eight, 90-minute virtual focus groups with CHWs (n = 20) and SWs (n = 17) collaborating in four healthcare and community health settings across the United States (California, Texas, New Jersey, and South Carolina). Focus groups were conducted between April 2022 and June 2023.

Themes were thematically organized according to the socio-ecological model. Individual and relationship-level factors included: roles and scopes of practice, communication, mutual respect, supportive supervision, and power dynamics. Organizational and community-level factors comprised: commitment to equity, leadership buy-in, standardized training, clear workflows, and shared documentation and physical space. Societal-level factors included: power dynamics, supportive policies and sustainable funding.

Findings highlighted that CHW-SW collaboration can promote patient-centered care and address social determinants of health when both workforces are well integrated in healthcare systems. Key organizational commitments, community rapport, and relational dynamics should be established to optimize interdisciplinary collaboration and advance health equity.

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