{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,25]],"date-time":"2026-08-25T17:18:39Z","timestamp":1787678319335,"version":"build-2784847793"},"reference-count":55,"publisher":"Oxford University Press (OUP)","issue":"8","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,20]],"date-time":"2026-08-20T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1787184000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":19,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100007904","name":"Texas A&M University Research Leadership Fellow","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100007904","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/100000102","name":"Health Resources and Services Administration","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100000102","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/100000016","name":"US Department of Health and Human Services","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["6 U1CRH30040"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["6 U1CRH30040"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100000016","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,3]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Introduction<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Community Health Workers (CHWs) are trusted public health workers who strengthen healthcare access, quality, and cultural responsiveness by addressing social determinants of health. While CHW services show value, professionalization policies, including certification and training requirements, remain debated.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>To understand these policies, we conducted an empirical legal mapping study of CHW professionalism laws in 54 US jurisdictions (50 states, DC, Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands, and Guam) in effect in 2019 and 2024 following consensus legal mapping guidelines for legal research, coding, and quality control.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>We screened 2248 relevant laws, with 31 jurisdictions modifying CHW professionalization laws. Between 2019 and 2024, the number of jurisdictions with consistent terminology (16 to 21), defined CHW roles (15 to 21), laws concerning certification (14 to 22), and laws requiring training for practice or certification (21 to 23) increased. Jurisdictions with formal education requirements declined (12 to 8), while jurisdictions requiring training programs increased (12 to 20).<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>CHW professionalization requires careful navigation. While increased professionalism might enhance workforce stability, it risks creating barriers to entry and undermining CHWs\u2019 community-rooted identity. Future research is needed to identify the balance between CHW professionalism and the preservation of CHW status as trusted members of the communities they serve.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1093\/haschl\/qxag210","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,19]],"date-time":"2026-08-19T11:49:55Z","timestamp":1787140195000},"source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Pandemic era expansion of state laws governing the professionalization of community health workers"],"prefix":"10.1093","volume":"4","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0003-6871-6865","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Regen","family":"Weber-Fares","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Health Policy and Management, Texas A&M University School of Public Health , College Station, TX 77843 ,","place":["United States"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0237-2436","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Thomas","family":"Cheung","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Medicine, Texas A&M University , Bryan, TX 77807 ,","place":["United States"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8820-8687","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"David J","family":"Washburn","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Health Policy and Management, Tulane University Celia Scott Weatherhead School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine , New Orleans, LA 70112 ,","place":["United States"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9056-9123","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Timothy","family":"Callaghan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Health Law, Policy, and Management, Boston University School of Public Health , Boston, MA 02118 ,","place":["United States"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0006-7448-5495","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Megan","family":"LaFleur","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Health Policy and Management, Texas A&M University School of Public Health , College Station, TX 77843 ,","place":["United States"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2359-9741","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Denise","family":"Martinez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, Texas A&M University , Bryan, TX 77802 ,","place":["United States"]},{"name":"Department of Educational Psychology, School of Education, Texas A&M University , College Station, TX 77843 ,","place":["United States"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Deepak","family":"Muthyala","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Medicine, Texas A&M University , Bryan, TX 77807 ,","place":["United States"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0000-7175-617X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Keegan","family":"Warren","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute for Healthcare Access, Texas A&M University , Ft. Worth, TX 76102 ,","place":["United States"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0005-9835-6236","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"William","family":"Sage","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute for Healthcare Access, Texas A&M University , Ft. Worth, TX 76102 ,","place":["United States"]},{"name":"Department of Translational Science, College of Medicine, Texas A&M University , Bryan, TX 77030 ,","place":["United States"]},{"name":"School of Law, Texas A&M University , Ft. 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