Training community health workers to address social isolation in older adults through a quality improvement project

Social isolation is a growing public health concern among older adults and is associated with adverse physical, cognitive, and mental health outcomes. Community health workers play an important role in addressing social drivers of health in primary care and population health settings; however, targeted training focused on social isolation remains limited. This quality improvement project evaluated a brief, structured training designed to improve community health workers’ knowledge, confidence, and application of strategies to address social isolation among older adults. A two-hour, in-person training was implemented within an existing population health workflow and evaluated using Kirkpatrick’s Four Levels of Learning Model. Community health workers completed surveys assessing reaction, self-reported knowledge and confidence, and application of training content at pre-training, immediately post-training, and at one- and two-month follow-up. Quantitative data were analyzed descriptively, and qualitative responses were analyzed thematically. Participants reported high satisfaction with the training and perceived the content as relevant to their work. Self-reported knowledge and confidence increased across assessed domains following training, with gains sustained at one- and two-month follow-up. Participants reported applying the social isolation component of the Aging Wellness Pathway in routine encounters, with variability across individuals and over time. Qualitative examples illustrated early adoption of strategies to connect older adults with community and supportive resources. Findings suggest that brief, workflow-integrated training may strengthen community health workers’ capacity to identify and respond to social isolation among older adults and represents a feasible workforce-focused approach in rural primary care and population health settings.