The book supports the CHW definition as defined by the American Public Health Association (APHA), Community Health Worker Section (2013), which states, "A community health worker is a frontline public health worker who is a trusted member of and/or has an unusually close understanding of the community served." The scope of the text follows the framework of the nationally recognized roles of CHWs that came out of a national consensus-building project called "The Community Health Worker (CHW) Core Consensus (C3) Project". Topics explored among the chapters include:
- Cultural Mediation Among Individuals, Communities, and Health and Social Service Systems
- Care Coordination, Case Management, and System Navigation
- Advocating for Individuals and Communities
- Building Individual and Community Capacity
- Implementing Individual and Community Assessments
- Participating in Evaluation and Research
- Uniting the Workforce: Building Capacity for a National Association of Community Health Workers