Altarum has a multiyear contract with the National Institutes of Health's National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) to support expansion of the Community Health Worker Health Disparities Initiative. This Initiative was launched to reduce health disparities in heart disease and asthma in underserved and minority communities across the United States. As trusted members of their communities, community health workers (CHW) play a critical role in reducing health disparities by teaching community members about healthy lifestyle choices and providing preventive care guidance. To support the implementation of CHW programs on heart health and asthma, NHLBI developed science-based health education materials that are culturally appropriate, field tested, and easy for CHWs to use in the community or a clinical setting. The Initiative’s health education materials are tailored to the following populations: Latino, African American, American Indian and Alaska Native, Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and other Pacific Islander populations. NHLBI has implemented a multipronged approach to develop and strengthen partnerships in order to implement CHW training and community education and outreach. This approach is supported by a comprehensive communication strategy, trainings, communities of practice, and webinar series.
NHLBI Strategic Champions for Heart Health
Through our work with the NHLBI’s Community Health Worker Health Disparities Initiative, Altarum is supporting a new generation of community health worker programs to reduce heart disease in 
minority and underserved communities. Nine Strategic Champions projects have been funded to build organizational capacity to use the Initiative’s heart health programs through work in community, clinical, and virtual settings. Projects partner with African American, Latino, American Indian, and Filipino American communities and will be funded for 16 months. We are delighted to announce the following organizations as CHW Initiative Strategic Champions:
- Central Massachusetts Area Health Education Center
- Housing Authority of the City of Columbia, South Carolina
- Morehouse School of Medicine
- Project Concern International
- Partners In Health and Navajo Nation
- New York University School of Medicine, Center for the Study of Asian American Health
- Southeast Arizona Area Health Education Center
- University of Alabama at Birmingham, Center for the Study of Community Health
- Visión y Compromiso
