Kentucky Homeplace, a nationally recognized community health worker program, celebrates 30 years

By Beth Bowling
University of Kentucky

Kentucky Homeplace, a nationally recognized community health worker program, is celebrating its 30th year of helping Kentuckians.

The University of Kentucky Center of Excellence in Rural Health began Kentucky Homeplace in Hazard as a demonstration project in 1994 to help individuals overcome barriers to health care and address health disparities.

Its community health worker program is recognized as the longest-running CHW program in Kentucky, having helped more than 200,000 Kentuckians access health and social services they may otherwise have gone without.

Community health workers are skilled in helping members of their communities navigate the health care system, connect with health plans, access free and reduced-cost prescription medications and learn how to better self-manage chronic diseases such as diabetes.

Kentucky Homeplace has provided more than 5.3 million services throughout the program’s history. The monetary value of these services, combined with free and reduced-cost prescription medications, exceeds $416 million.

Operating with an annual budget from the Kentucky Department of Public Health, Kentucky Homeplace has demonstrated an average return on investment of more than $11 for every budgeted dollar.

Kentucky Homeplace employs 21 certified community health workers who cover 26 counties in Eastern Kentucky.

A celebration of this recent milestone was recently held in Hazard. Watch the 30th anniversary video here. To learn more about the program, click here.