Evaluation of a Cardiovascular Disease/Diabetes Mellitus Expansion Program for Community Health Workers Employed by Rhode Island Community Health Teams.

Context: The integration of certified community health workers (CCHWs) with specialty chronic disease training into clinical care teams has demonstrated improvements in chronic disease quality of care, management, and outcomes.

Program: Rhode Island Department of Health's Diabetes, Heart Disease, and Stroke Program expanded the roles of CCHWs employed by Community Health Teams for chronic disease with a focus on cardiovascular disease (CVD) and diabetes mellitus (DM) from 2020 to 2023. Rhode Island Department of Health's Diabetes, Heart Disease, and Stroke Program sought to determine whether patient health behaviors and clinical outcomes improved with specialty trained CCHW support.