Community Health and Wellbeing Worker Model
Find out more about the Community Health and Wellbeing Worker Model being used by the British Red Cross.
The British Red Cross is launching a new health worker service following the Community Health and Wellbeing Worker Model.
This model brings together a small team of local people to support others in their community. These workers will help people to access healthcare services in their area and share advice for healthy living.
The model will make it easier for people to lead healthy lives and get the care they need.
How does it work?
Community Health and Wellbeing Workers (CHWWs) are local people who work with health and community services to help residents get support.
Every CHWW covers up to 150 homes and they visit each one every month. During the visits, they talk to residents about any issues related to physical, mental and social health.
Following four main ideas, the service is:
Comprehensive – It looks after the whole household and everyone in it and anything of concern.
Local – Each CHWW, usually people with close connections to the area, works with just 120-150 households.
Universal – Everyone in the area is seen regularly and is given the help they need.
Integrated – CHWWs work with local GPs, authorities and community services.
CHWWs work with people to assess their needs and promote healthy living. They explain what services are available and help people to access the health and care system.
The history of CHWWs
The Community Health and Wellbeing Worker Model first launched in the 1990s in Brazil. Today more than 70% of Brazil's population has access to a local health worker. In Brazil the CHWW model has been credited with reducing deaths from heart disease by 34%.
The model has already been trialled in several places across the UK. Today the service is available in more than 25 areas across the country.
During a trial in Cornwall, residents reported a 90% increase in their wellbeing thanks to CHWWs.
In Westminster, where the model was first used in the UK, people were:
- 82% more likely to get cancer screenings and NHS health checks
- 47% more likely to get the vaccines they were eligible for
- 7.4% less likely to need an unscheduled GP visit.
Get in touch
The British Red Cross will launch its first CHWW service in the Bideford area in July 2025.
If you'd like to learn more about the Bideford service, please email SGoff@redcross.org.uk with any questions.
If you want to learn more about how CHWW services work more generally and our use of the CHWW model, please contact simon.billingham@redcross.org.uk
Research and resources
Learn more about the CHWW model and its benefits through these links:
- Creating Integrated Neighbourhood Teams: Learning from experience - National Association of Primary Care
- Community Health and Wellbeing Workers in Cornwall - Year One Report - National Association of Primary Care
- From Brazil to Battersea - how community health and wellbeing workers link people to the help they need - NHS South West London Integrated Care Board
- Learning from the universal, proactive outreach of the Brazilian Community Health Worker model: impact of a Community Health and Wellbeing Worker initiative on vaccination, cancer screening and NHS health check uptake in a deprived community in the UK – PubMed
- The potential contribution of community health workers to improving health outcomes in UK primary care - PubMed
- Development of a composite outcome score for a complex intervention - measuring the impact of Community Health Workers - PubMed
Partnerships
The Bideford CHWW service is provided by the British Red Cross in partnership with One Devon.
The British Red Cross has worked with the National Association of Primary Care and Imperial College London on the launch of our CHWW service.
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