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In this article, we discuss how fieldwork completed 'at home' in the USA presented challenges and resulted in our work being considered not 'anthropological enough'. Centring our article around our individual projects for which primary data collection was completed prior to COVID-19, we explore a variety of issues related to methodology and structural constraints we experienced as graduate students in anthropology and now as junior scholars. Drawing on our experiences conducting research in the USA, we posit how anthropology might move forward in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and foster a more inclusive discipline. By challenging the notion of 'anthropological enough', we reimagine ways of conducting anthropology that are better suited for increasingly uncertain times, which call for collaborations rooted in social justice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores how a group of paramedics were cross-trained as community health workers (CHWs) in Indiana. Cross-training paramedics as CHWs provided a foundation to better understand the social issues that occur outside of the hospital and clinic, thereby enabling further empathy among paramedics and seeking means to connect patients to other health and social services agencies. I detail how earning a certification as a CHW shifted the mindset of the paramedics and their approach toward caregiving. Ultimately, I argue how cross-training healthcare professionals can further expand the general awareness of CHWs and possible opportunities for employment. However, steps must be taken to ensure that reducing the CHW model to a cross-training opportunity will not minimise the impacts of hiring a full-time CHW. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Community health workers (CHWs) are crucial intermediaries between marginalised populations and health and social services. Among their unique repertoire of services includes their commitment to advocacy, a crucial skill that aids clients in addressing the social determinants of health that deleteriously affect their wellbeing. However, a plethora of structural barriers encountered by their clients complicates the caregiving of these workers. Drawing on data from a year-long ethnographic research project situated in Indiana, I analyse the diverse structural challenges experienced by these workers and their clients and assess the parallels encountered by CHWs at the global scale. Among the key barriers encountered by CHWs included difficulty in accessing resources for clients, lack of effective public transportation, barriers within the professional workforce, and the overarching negative impact of structural violence on client motivation. In spite of these issues, CHWs can positively address these barriers through a wider adoption of a structural competency approach, which further elucidates and addresses the harmful effects of structural violence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Community health workers (CHWs) participate in advocacy as a crucial means to empower clients in overcoming health disparities and to improve the health and social well-being of their communities. Building on previous studies, this article proposes a new framework for conceptualising CHW advocacy, depending on the intended impact level of CHW advocacy. CHWs participate in three 'levels' of advocacy, the micro, the macro, and the professional. This article also details the challenges they face at each level. As steps are taken to institutionalise these workers throughout the United States and abroad, there is a danger that their participation in advocacy will diminish. As advocacy serves as a primary conduit through which to empower clients, enshrining this role in steps to integrate these workers is essential. Finally, this article provides justification for the impacts of CHWs in addressing the social determinants of health and in helping their communities strive towards health equity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]