Abstract for: Community Health Worker Led Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors Prevention and Management

The study describes a participatory stakeholder engagement that aims to explore and reach a consensus on the mechanisms through which social and environmental conditions that determine an individual’s behavior and risk of diseases—known as social determinants of health (SDOH)—shape the cardiovascular health of low-income African Americans in Cleveland. The qualitative system dynamics model developed through GMB helped community stakeholders understand the complex interrelationships between SDOH and CVD risk factors. It also brought feedback perspective to understanding the dynamic complexity of leveraging CHWs for preventing and managing CVD risk factors. Furthermore, the conceptual qualitative model allows community stakeholders to connect CHW interventions to specific social and environmental conditions that determine an individual’s behavior and risk of diseases to promote communication and a better understanding of how CHW intervention will impact CVD risk factors. The main insight from the study is that if policymakers and health system managers do not comprehensively address the reimbursement of CHWs, it will inevitably affect the success of this promising care model that can potentially improve population health among underserved communities.