Impacts of Colorado's regional health connector workforce on health-related social needs and health equity

BACKGROUND: Workforce roles that address social determinants of health, such as regional health connectors (RHCs), can reduce health inequities that disproportionately affect people of lower socioeconomic status and marginalized communities. 

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this evaluation was to describe, from the perspective of RHCs' community partners, 1) strategies that RHCs employ, 2) social needs that RHCs address, and 3) outcomes associated with RHCs' community efforts. 

METHODS: This convergent mixed-methods evaluation included a cross-sectional statewide survey of Colorado RHC partners followed by interviews with a subset of participants. Descriptive statistics (frequency distributions, proportions, means, standard deviations) were used to summarize survey results. We used a thematic summary approach to qualitatively analyze interviews. 

RESULTS: Survey participants (n = 182) were community partners working with RHCs, representing public health (36%), health care (30%) and social services sectors (25%). RHCs most commonly addressed access to care, food security, and housing support. Community partners reported that RHCs impact their organizations by connecting them to new resources, assisting in connecting the people they serve to resources to address social needs, and identifying and/or addressing resource gaps in the community. Survey comments and interviews (n = 11) illuminated RHCs' involvement in connecting community members and organizations to tailored resources and services. Partners appreciated RHCs' high-level perspective and broad knowledge base. Areas for improvement included organizational change affecting relationship development and processes to connect partners with resources. 

CONCLUSIONS: The Colorado RHC model could help other regions build collaborations and leverage resources and support for health-related social needs to improve community health outcomes.