Characteristics of Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Community Health Worker Programs: A Systematic Review

Community health workers (CHWs) are frontline health workers who often serve socially and linguistically isolated populations, including Asian American, Native Hawai- ian, and Pacific Islander (AA and NHPI) communities in the United States (U.S.) and U.S. territories. We conducted a systematic review of the peer-reviewed literature to assess the characteristics of CHW programs for AA and NHPI communities in the U.S. and U.S. ter- ritories, generating a total of 75 articles. Articles were coded using eight domains: ethnic group, health topic, geographic location, funding mechanism, type of analysis reported, prevention/ management focus, CHW role, and CHW title. Articles describing results of an intervention or program evaluation, or cost-effectiveness analysis were further coded with seven domains: study design, intervention recruitment and delivery site, mode of interven- tion delivery, outcomes assessed, key findings, and positive impact. Results revealed gaps in the current literature and point towards recommendations for future CHW research, program, and policy efforts.