Empowering communities for health and wellbeing
Reaching Beyond the Hospital Walls
Where you live, what resources you have, and the environment around you profoundly affect your health. So patient care must be about more than providing medical attention and treating illnesses. A holistic approach is needed: being there for patients, honoring where they are in life, and providing the resources and support they need to live well. Since 2013, Penn Center for Community Health Workers has been committed to doing just that. Our mission is to advance health equity and improve health outcomes through person-centered care and partnerships.
Penn Center for Community Health Workers developed and delivers IMPaCT©, a proven method of health and wellbeing improvement rooted in community health worker (CHW) support. IMPaCT© has reached close to 25,000 people in our region. Research shows that this intervention is highly effective in improving patient satisfaction, mental health and chronic disease management, and health care costs by reducing the length of hospital stays.
IMPaCT© CHWs partner with patients to address various aspects of their lives that impact health, from navigating the health system to tackling underlying social barriers such as unstable housing, social isolation, and unemployment. These partnerships help to build healthier, more resilient communities.
What is a community health worker?
Community health workers are trusted connectors, navigators, and advocates for health and wellbeing who come from within Penn Medicine’s local communities. They share many aspects of lived experience and culture with their patients. CHWs use that knowledge to get things done within clinical and community settings using formal and informal resources and networks. Along with being collaborative and goal-oriented, IMPaCT CHWs are hired for their natural disposition toward empathy, open-mindedness, and good listening. These traits enable CHWs to establish meaningful connections with the individuals they serve. They ensure that patients feel heard and empowered to make progress toward their health goals.
Driving research and innovation
Research is a critical part of our work to innovate and shape best practices in community health. Through randomized controlled trials and other published studies, we've demonstrated tangible improvements in hospitalizations, mental health outcomes, and patient-provider communication. Explore our research publications to learn more about the evidence behind our impactful interventions.
Making a referral
Are you a Penn Medicine provider looking to connect your patients to a community health worker? Simply send an EPIC message to the "IMPaCT" pool, place an EPIC order to "IMPaCT Community Health Worker Program," or call our hotline at 215-662-8635. Our CHWs will work with you to ensure that our patients receive the holistic support they need to thrive.