Understanding the Public Health Role, Motivations, and Perceptions of Community Health Workers Deployed to Low-Income Housing in Richmond, Virginia.

Background: For the US health indicators to improve to the level of other developed countries, the use of Community Health Workers (CHWs) in vulnerable populations has been indicated as a possible long-term intervention. There are few models of long-term deployment of CHWs as part of the district level public health system in the US.

Method: In this study we interviewed CHWs who served as neighborhood-integrated health district staff assigned to low-income housing in Richmond, Virginia for 10 years.