A Qualitative Review of Community Health Workers' Training, Supervision, and Service Delivery Needs

Community Health Workers (CHW) are part of an emerging workforce in the field of mental health, but few studies have examined their training, supervision, and service delivery needs in the United States. Individual semi-structured interviews were conducted with CHWs (n = 9) and their administrators (n = 6) affiliated with a medical center and school districts in Southern California. Guiding questions focused on CHW roles, work-related stress, clinical decision making, and professional development. Findings pointed to high rates of stress, primarily attributed to role ambiguity, and need (and desire) for more training and supervision related to mental health interventions, and more systematic structures for data-informed decision-making. Discussion provides reflections and recommendations to the field about ways to support this growing and critical workforce.