Professor Edie Kieffer Champions
Community Health Workers
Professor Edie Kieffer’s
research focuses on eliminating healthcare disparities. Her current project is expanding the use of community health workers to
improve care and reduce by building trusting relationships and improving access to resources
such as; insurance, healthy food, transportation to appointments and peer counseling:
Professor Kieffer and her team developed and currently support the
Michigan Community Health Workers Alliance, an advocacy organization dedicated to increasing the use of community health workers in the State of Michigan.
The Nokimos Foudantion Provided seed funding for Professor Kieffer’s research and the establishment of the Michigan Community Health Workers Alliance.
Michigan Primary Care Association is funding a project to hire, train and integrate Community Health Workers into
primary care teams in 16 health centers throughout Michigan. This project directly supports patients by sharing information and resources for accessing food, housing, social services, and counseling.