Community Health Worker
Community health workers (CHWs) are frontline health workers who have a close understanding of the community they serve. CHW’s frequently serve as a liaison between health/social services and the community to coordinate healthcare, government, and social service systems.
Although their roles vary depending on location, CHW’s frequently assist in underprivileged communities where people may have limited resources; lack access to quality health care; lack the means to pay for health care; or languages other than English.
These dedicated professionals strive to provide help to individuals throughout a community through
Outreach
Community Education
Informal Counseling
Social Support
Advocacy (American Public Health Association)
$495
Online
Approx 6 Months
*Possible funding opportunities available with CareerSource North Central Florida. Contact Mary Crown at mcrown@careersourcencfl.com to learn more.
Program Objectives
Upon successful completion of the Community Health Worker course, students should be able to:
Present a brief history and description of Community Health Workers and the research that supports their work to help promote the health of individuals and communities.
Describe common infectious and chronic health problems in US communities and some methods of prevention, intervention and management of these problems.
Characterize common Social Determinants of Health (SDoH) and methods for reducing their impact on the health of specific people and communities.
Describe communication tools and relationship skills CHW use in their daily practice for behavior change, health promotion, and health literacy.
Differentiate between effective outreach strategies for community work and individual recruiting.
Display skills in choice of and deployment of assessment skills (community needs assessment, resource identification and mapping, and documentation) by population group, including special populations.
Demonstrate skills in planning and documenting interventions to improve the health of individuals and communities through barrier reduction, education, information, navigation, referral and coordination.
Analyze community and individual efforts for sustainability, capacity building and ethical conduct.
How to become a Certified Community Health Worker in Florida
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Examples of CHW Responsibilities
Facilitating communication and interactions with health care/social service systems.
Helping individuals, families, groups and communities develop their capacity and access to resources, including health insurance, food, housing, quality care and health information.
Helping health care and social service systems become culturally relevant and responsive to their service population.
Helping people understand their health condition(s) and develop strategies to improve their health and well being.
Linking people to health care/social service resources.
Making home visits to chronically ill patients, pregnant women and nursing mothers, individuals at high risk of health problems and the elderly.
Program Benefits
In the state of Florida, this program is approved by the Florida Certification Board as a Pre-certification program for becoming a Certified Community Health Worker
*The Office of Professional and Workforce Development is an FCB Approved Education Provider
Career Insight
Salary Range
*Sourced from Glassdoor
Job Postings
*Sourced from Lightcast, period Mar. 2023 – Feb. 2024
Common Job Titles
Community Health Worker Community Liaison Community Development Coordinator
Skills/Knowledge Needed
Marketing Social Work Behavioral Health Mental Health Primary Care Medicare
A Good Fit if You Have:
Empathy Strong Communication Skills Cultural Competence
Meet The Instructor
Catherine L Striley
Deputy Director of HealthStreet
What’s Next?
You’ve taken our Community Health Worker course – now what?
Earn Your Certification
• Sit for the Certified Community Health Worker Examination with the Florida Certification Board.
Maintain Your Certification
• To maintain this certification you need 10 hours of continuing education per year. Training content must be related to at least one of the CCHW performance domains as indicated under Content Specific Training. Continuing Education (CE) credit hours must be non-repetitive (i.e., the same course cannot be claimed more than one time during each credentialed period, even if the course is taken annually).
• Renewal: Biennial (every two years), on October 31st of the renewal year.
Learn Beyond