Leda M. Pérez ^1* Jacqueline Martinez ²

¹ Collins Center for Public Policy
² New York State Health Foundation

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: lperez{at}collinscenter.org.

	Abstract

Community health workers are resources to their communities and to the advocacy and policy world on several levels.

Community health workers can connect people to health care and collect information relevant to policy. They are natural researchers who, as a result of direct interaction with the populations they serve, can recount the realities of exclusion and propose remedies for it. As natural researchers, they contribute to best practices on the ground while informing public policy with the information they can share.

In this light, community health workers may also be advocates for social justice.

Key Words: Community Health, Health Education, Health Service Delivery, Human Rights, Public Health Workers, Socioeconomic Factors