Community well being employees fill hole between well being care system and ‘where life happens’

The belief that neighborhood well being employees construct within the neighborhoods they serve permits them to assist people rework their well being by evidence-based, way of life conduct modifications. ACLM has launched a coaching program to assist neighborhood well being employees and related front-line well being employees apply the six pillars of way of life medication.

By Alex Branch | ACLM Director of Communications

October 16, 2025

Sabrina Falquier, MD, CCMS, DipABLM, realized the significance of neighborhood rising up in Mexico City. Born to a Swiss father and an American mom, her first language was Spanish, and she or he embraced the wealthy tradition–meals, music and loyalty to neighborhood and household–that formed and linked the individuals dwelling round her.

That’s why later, as a life-style medication board-certified doctor caring for largely Hispanic populations in Southern California, she discovered a disconnect between the sterile examination rooms the place clinicians interact sufferers in conversations about wholesome way of life behaviors and sufferers’ communities the place they stay, work and play.

“What is often missing is a bridge between what happens inside the health care system and individuals’ communities where life happens,” she mentioned. “I can give a patient with heart disease cardiac-healthy recipes but if the recipes do not resonate with their cultural foods and palate, or if the ingredients aren’t available in their grocery stores, the change in eating pattern is not likely sustainable. However, if they learn to cook those recipes with familiar herbs and spices and ingredients that are already familiar and then eat the prepared dishes with their family and community, they are more likely to sustain the changes.”

Dr. Falquier believes {that a} key to filling this hole is the utilization of the neighborhood well being employee (CHW). Dr. Falquier is a contributor to the American College of Lifestyle Medicine’s (ACLM) new three-hour on-line Community Health Worker Training designed to empower CHWs and different community-facing well being employees with sensible way of life medication instruments and sources to information people and communities towards a more healthy way of life. The course is obtainable in English and Spanish variations.

CHWs are frontline public well being employees who’re trusted members of the neighborhood they serve. They act as a liaison between well being and social companies and the neighborhood to facilitate entry to companies and enhance the standard and cultural competence of service supply, based on the American Public Health Association. CHWs might join with people by house visits, group periods, and neighborhood outreach, creating supportive environments for people to take cost of their well being. 

There are greater than 60,000 CHWs within the U.S., with a job development outlook of 13%. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics characterizes this as a lot quicker development than the common of different occupations.

The function of way of life medication in decreasing continual illness 

The U.S. continual illness disaster is unsustainable. An estimated 129 million people have a minimum of 1 main continual illness. A rising variety of individuals have a number of continual situations (42% have two or extra, and 12% have a minimum of 5).

More than 40% of school-aged children and adolescents have a minimum of one continual well being situation. While genetics might predispose people to sure ailments, unhealthy vitamin, bodily exercise, sleep and stress administration behaviors contribute to disease at a larger fee. Medically underserved communities usually face larger charges of continual illness.  

Lifestyle medication is a medical specialty that makes use of therapeutic, evidence-based way of life interventions as a main modality to deal with, reverse and stop continual situations. Lifestyle medication applies six pillars of drugs—a whole-food, plant-predominant consuming sample, bodily exercise, restorative sleep, stress administration, constructive social connections, and avoidance of dangerous substances.

A deep understanding of the communities they serve makes CHWs uniquely positioned to assist people develop and maintain wholesome way of life behaviors. CHWs construct rapport with neighborhood members, assist make well being messages relatable and transcribe medical recommendation into on a regular basis actions. 

Dr. Falquier’s understanding of the potential of CHWs grew from her expertise working with Olivewood Gardens and Learning Center, a non-profit with a instructing kitchen, situated close to the Mexican border. There, she realized that shows to all the colleges in the neighborhood have been much less impactful if she, as a doctor, delivered the knowledge. The info resonated extra deeply when offered by native graduates of the instructing kitchen’s eight-week program which incorporates lots of the pillars of way of life medication: studying to buy and put together culturally acceptable and nutrient dense plant-predominant meals, neighborhood constructing, mindfulness and the significance of bodily exercise. Whereas a doctor is usually perceived as separate and indifferent from the neighborhood group, the graduates—often called kitchenistas–are accepted and trusted as members of the neighborhood.   

“A simple example: nacho fundraisers are big in schools – everyone tends to love them, and they are profitable,” she mentioned. “Not very nutritious, the way they are traditionally prepared. Yet instead of being told to stop doing nacho fundraisers, they were taught to use cashew cream, add chopped vegetables and bake cut tortillas into chips. They were empowered, by their peers, to understand why they were doing it, and through a cooking demonstration and tasting, could see how to prepare them and how delicious they were.”

Applying all six pillars  

The capacity of CHWs to impression way of life conduct extends past the pillar of optimum vitamin.  CHWs may help people develop plans and overcome obstacles for elevated bodily exercise and constructive social connections, Dr. Falquier mentioned. The CHWs’ familiarity with the neighborhood permits them to determine secure areas for bodily exercise, assist set up journey shares for purchasing for and sharing of nutrient-dense components in bulk and develop alternatives to scale back emotions of isolation.  

“Community health workers are built into the fabric of the community – that’s the beauty of this,” she mentioned. “Their kids go to the same schools; they see each other at grocery stores and at neighborhood gatherings. We have an incredible opportunity to harness all these advantages by preparing these incredibly valuable health workers to help people transform and restore their health through lifestyle behavior change.”

ACLM’s Community Health Worker Training options three hours of on-line instructional shows designed particularly to assist assist CHWs in guiding people towards wholesome behaviors that align with the pillars of way of life medication. Key options embody evidence-based instruments, resembling checklists outlining optimum situations for every pillar, actionable strategies and referral indicators, in addition to complementary guides, handouts, and instruments for sustained engagement and assist. Although the coaching was designed for CHWs, the coaching is relevant for a variety of community-facing healthcare professionals, together with house well being aides, public well being employees, and affected person navigators. The coaching is obtainable to people and to organizations by way of life medication organizational coaching packages, which well being programs are more and more using to multiply the impression of incorporating evidence-based way of life medication.  

For details about coaching packages tailor-made to your group’s wants: Contact ACLM Director of Partnerships Chelsey Hoffman at [email protected].

Learn find out how to stop and reverse continual illness utilizing the six pillars of Lifestyle Medicine—tailor-made for Community Health Workers.

About the creator

Alex Branch is the director of communications for the American College of Lifestyle Medicine (ACLM). A former healthcare journalist, he transitioned to healthcare communications and public relations in 2013. Before becoming a member of ACLM, he served as press officer and senior director of communications on the University of North Texas Health Science Center in Fort Worth.