Research & Publications

Our Research Agenda

CC Health Development's research program is guided by four priority areas that reflect the most pressing knowledge gaps in community health infrastructure science. All research is conducted in partnership with academic collaborators and subject to institutional review board oversight, and all findings are published in peer-reviewed journals and made freely available to the communities that participate in our studies.

Community Health Worker Workforce Science

Our longest-running research thread examines the training, deployment, effectiveness, and economic sustainability of Community Health Workers in urban safety-net settings. This work has produced the largest longitudinal evaluation of CHW program outcomes in Maryland, tracking clinical, utilization, and cost outcomes for over 4,200 patients enrolled in CHW-supported care management programs across 23 partner clinical sites. Key contributions include establishing the cost-effectiveness evidence supporting Medicaid reimbursement for CHW services and identifying the organizational factors that predict successful CHW integration into primary care team workflows.

Health Needs Assessment Methodology

Our community-participatory assessment methodology has evolved through 36 implementations across Baltimore neighborhoods, producing a validated, replicable framework that has been adopted by three state health departments. Current methodological research focuses on integrating real-time environmental sensor data, electronic health record population health extracts, and community-generated smartphone survey data into our assessment framework to reduce the cost and time required for comprehensive neighborhood health profiling while maintaining the community engagement principles that distinguish our approach.

Health Equity Data Infrastructure

In partnership with the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Equity, we are developing next-generation data infrastructure for tracking and visualizing health equity conditions at the neighborhood level. Our Health Equity Data Dashboard project aggregates data from 14 federal, state, and local data sources into a unified, ZIP-code-level platform that enables health departments, community organizations, and researchers to identify disparities, allocate resources, and track progress toward health equity targets. Current research explores the use of machine learning models to predict neighborhood-level health outcomes from social determinant and environmental data, potentially enabling proactive resource deployment before health crises emerge.

Policy Translation & Advocacy Research

Our policy research arm translates community health program evaluation findings into actionable policy recommendations for state and federal legislators, Medicaid agencies, and health system leaders. Recent policy contributions include technical assistance for the Maryland General Assembly's consideration of mandatory Medicaid reimbursement for CHW services, testimony before the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health regarding federal investment in community health worker workforce development, and a policy brief series on sustainable financing mechanisms for mobile health clinic operations in medically underserved areas. We partner with the Maryland Citizens' Health Initiative and the National Association of Community Health Workers on policy translation efforts.