Community health workers as providers of pediatric behavioral healthcare: a scoping review and call to action for pediatric psychologists

OBJECTIVE: Community health workers (CHWs) are uniquely positioned to provide community-based, culturally responsive, and accessible healthcare to pediatric populations. We conducted a scoping review of the literature to describe how CHWs have been involved in pediatric health intervention research in the United States. METHODS: We searched the databases PubMed, PsycInfo, Medline, CINAHL, and Medic Latina for peer-reviewed intervention studies published in English from 2003 to 2025. Additional inclusion criteria were that CHWs were involved in some aspect of intervention delivery; the intervention impacted a child's physical, behavioral, or mental health concern or behavior; the study provided quantitative outcome data, and the intervention was implemented in the United States. We extracted information on (1) the characteristics of interventions CHWs have delivered, (2) the extent to which CHWs are providing interventions with psychotherapeutic content, (3) the training and supervision received by CHWs, and (4) the match between intervention components and CHW roles/competencies. RESULTS: We identified 11,361 articles from our search, of which 151 articles met inclusion criteria. Interventions addressed a range of pediatric health conditions and prevention/promotion outcomes, and 35 interventions included psychotherapeutic components. Most studies provided minimal information about CHW training and supervision, and CHWs' roles in most studies were limited to providing health education and outreach, despite the wide range of competencies CHWs have in providing care. CONCLUSIONS: We call for pediatric psychologists to advocate for CHWs as members of multidisciplinary healthcare teams and collaborate with CHWs in research and practice for children and families.