Community Health Workers

Welcome to Medicare for Community Health Workers

Overview

This training offers community health workers (CHWs) a basic understanding of what Medicare is and how it works. It is provided by the Senior Health Insurance Information Program (SHIIP) at the State of Iowa Insurance Division. SHIIP provides free Medicare counseling for Iowans and is supported by federal funds from the Administration for Community Living. 

Community Health Workers or those fulfilling a community health worker role.

Pre-requisites/Learning Level

Ability to read and understand spoken English.

Learning Goal & Objectives

The goal of this training is to describe what Medicare is, how it works including parts of Medicare, Medicare choices, eligibility, and enrollment.

CEUs Offered

CEUs are not available for this training.

Cost

Free - there is no cost for this training.

Modality/format

Online self-paced, on demand.

Length

The total length of both modules is estimated to take about 25-30 minutes.

Acknowledgements

This project was supported by the Administration for Community Living (ACL), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of a financial assistance award totaling $746,649 with 84 percent funded by ACL/ HHS and $141,665 and 16 percent funded by non-federal government source(s). The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by ACL/ HHS, or the U.S. Government.

Welcome to Youth Mental Health for Community Health Workers!

Overview

Are you currently working as a CHW or in a similar health related field and would like additional training? The goal of this training is to educate CHWs and other front-line health workers to equip them with foundational community and youth mental health knowledge and available resources to utilize when working with individuals. This is a free, online training that you will take at your own pace. Once you complete all of the modules, you will receive a certificate recognizing that you have completed the Youth Mental Health for CHWs. The series includes two modules.

1. Foundations of Community Mental Health
   
2. Youth Mental Health, Positive Youth Development, and Mental Health Resources
   

Intended Audience

Community Health Workers or those fulfilling a community health worker role.

Pre-requisites/Learning Level

Ability to read and understand spoken English.

Learning Goal & Objectives

The goal of this training is to educate CHWs and other front-line health workers to equip them with foundational community and youth mental health knowledge and available resources to utilize when working with individuals.

Module 1: Foundations of Community Mental Health Learning Objectives

• Define key concepts and contributors to mental health
• Identify challenges and opportunities to mental health at the community level
• Recognize evidence-based interventions to address mental health

Module 2: Youth Mental Health, Positive Youth Development, & Mental Health Resources Learning Objectives

• Identify key challenges in mental health for youth
• Define core concepts and strategies of Positive Youth Development (PYD) to address mental health
• Access existing national, state, and local referral pathways and resources for mental health
  

Competencies Addressed

TBD

CEUs Offered

CEUs are not available for this training.

Cost

Free - there is no cost for this training.

Modality/format

Online self-paced, on demand.

Length

The total length of both modules is estimated to take about 1 hour.

Acknowledgements

This free training was made possible through funding from the Youth Mental Health Corps, a Schultz Foundation Grant Program.

Creation Date

May 2024 to December 2024

Welcome to Public Health Training for Community Health Workers!

Overview

Are you currently working as a CHW or in a similar health related field and would like additional training? The goal of this training is to educate CHWs and other front-line health workers to equip them with public health knowledge, skills and available resources to utilize when working with individuals. This is a free, online training that you will take at your own pace. Once you complete all of the modules, you will receive a certificate recognizing that you have completed the Public Health Training for CHWs. The series includes 11 modules.

1. Introduction to Public Health
2. Maternal, Child & Adolescent Health
3. Chronic, Congenital, & Inherited Conditions
4. Environmental Health
5. Health Insurance Basics
6. HIV, STI, & Hepatitis
7. Immunizations
8. Behavioral Health
9. Nutrition & Physical Activity (Part 1: Overview & Recommendations, Part 2: Nutrition & WIC)
10. Oral Health
11. Recognizing & Combating Misinformation

What is a CHW?

A community health worker (CHW) is a frontline public health worker who is a trusted member of and/or has an unusually close understanding of the community served. This trusting relationship enables the CHW to serve as liaison/link/intermediary between health/social services and the community to facilitate access to services and improve the quality and cultural competence of service delivery. A CHW also builds individual and community capacity by increasing health knowledge and self-sufficiency through a range of activities such as outreach, community education, informal counseling, social support, and advocacy. You can learn more about community health workers from the American Public Health Association (APHA).

Example job titles are:

• Health Promoter
• Promotor(a)
• Peer
• Community Health Representative
• Outreach Specialist
• Patient or Health Navigator
• Health Educator
• Case or Care Manager
• Health Advocate or Advisor
• Certified Application Counselor
• Community Health Educator
• Community Health Worker
• Care Coordinator
• Community Outreach Coordinator
• Family Resource Coordinator

Community Health Workers fill many roles in their positions, below are some examples of roles CHWs fill:

• Health Education and Promotion
• Advocacy and Support
• Care Coordination, Service Navigation or Both
• Cultural Competence
• Community Outreach
• Data Collection and Reporting
• Health Screenings and Referrals
• Capacity Building

The Public Health for Community Health Workers Series offers an introduction to public health and covers the core functions and essential services in public health.

Intended Audience

Community Health Workers or those fulfilling a community health worker role.

Pre-requisites/Learning Level

Ability to read and understand spoken English.

Learning Goal & Objectives

The overall learning goal of this series to educate CHWs and other front-line health workers to equip them with public health knowledge, skills, and resources to utilize when working with individuals within Iowa.

There are specific learning objectives for each module.

Competencies Addressed

Learners will gain knowledge in the core competencies for Public Health and Essential Public Health Services.

CEUs Offered

CEUs are not available for this training.

Cost

Free - there is no cost for this training.

Modality/format

Online self-paced, on demand.

Length

The total length of this series is between 10 to 12 hours.

Disclaimer

The Iowa Community Health Worker Training Program (CHWTP) is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of an award totaling $3 million dollars with 0% financed with non-governmental sources. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement by HRSA, HHS, or the U.S Government. For more information please visit HRSA.org.

Creation Date

January 2024 to August 2024

Overview

The Community Health Worker Professional Skills Training utilizes a blended learning approach featuring on-demand training for Community Health Workers (CHWs) and live virtual components.

It is designed to provide preservice preparation of CWHs and to advance the development of professionals currently working as CHWs or in related roles. CHW  Professional Skills Training meets all established standards of the C3 National Consensus Guidelines for CHW training, offers a non-credit Community Health Worker Professional Skills Certificate from an accredited public community college, and provides continuing education credits for most healthcare professions.

The CHW Professional Skills Training consists of five online courses, each course consists of various modules.

• Course 1: Introduction to Community Health Work: The Big Picture (five modules)
• Course 2: Core Competencies for Providing Direct Services (three modules)
• Course 3: Enhancing Client Interactions (three modules)
• Course 4: Enhancing Professional Skills (three modules)
• Course 5: Applying Core Competencies to Key Health Issues (six modules)

Learning objectives are provided under each course overview and within each learning module.

At the end of each online course, there will be an assessment covering each of the modules. You must receive a passing grade of 70% in each of the assessments to receive a certificate of completion.

Virtual, Live Learning & Assignments

The training also includes four required live, online learning sessions of 90 minutes each. One assignment is associated with each live learning session (four total). Each live session will be designed and scripted with adequate detail to enable a variety of faculty to facilitate these sessions.

Sessions will be conducted via Zoom or other virtual platform.

Intended Audience

Recognizing that the term community health workers is viewed as an umbrella term that encompasses many different roles and job titles, the intended audience for this course is community health workers and other front-line workers that have client or patient-facing roles.

CHWs and other front-line workers usually work as a liaison between the client or community and the healthcare and social services systems, to facilitate access to services and improve access, quality, and cultural competence of services.

Regardless of job title, this training is relevant to those in these kinds of roles:

• Providing health education or information
• Care coordination
• Case management
• System navigation
• Providing social support
• And more

Modality/Format

Online, Self-Paced and scheduled live online sessions

Total Program Length

The online program takes approximately 27-30 hours to complete

The live, online learning sessions takes approximately six hours to complete (four 90 minute sessions)

Prerequisites/Learning Level

Ability to read and understand spoken English

Technical Requirements

• Adobe Acrobat Reader

• Speakers/Headphones

CEUs Offered

Continuing education credits are available for healthcare professionals. Please refer to the Continuing Education information on the course dashboard for more information.

Cost

The tuition cost for the full CHW Professional Skills Training is $988.00. There is no breakdown of the total cost by each individual course.

Questions or Technical Assistance

If you have questions, please contact:

• Deb Kazmerzak, deb.kazmerzak@iowaccc.com | 515.554.3788 for questions related to stipend payments, training content, other CHW trainings, or other general questions.
• Training Source Help Desk for questions related to accessing or navigating within the course

Creation Date

2023

Background

The Iowa Chronic Care Consortium (ICCC) is pleased to offer this training series for community health workers (CHWs) and others in front line, client-facing roles. This series will advance knowledge and understanding by taking a deeper dive into chronic conditions and health disparities that have been identified in Iowa and often impact the populations served. Many of these topics are not covered in the CHW Professional Skills training in a significant way.

Although the State of Iowa currently does not require CHWs to receive continuing education, by learning more about these conditions, CHWs and others will gain empathy and understanding and learn about resources to learn more or for client service referrals. Those successfully completing the series will earn a certificate of completion.

Development of this training series was made possible through generous support from Amerigroup Iowa – one of Iowa’s Medicaid managed care providers.

Training Content

There are seven trainings in this series focused on the following topics:

• Health Disparities
• Diabetes
• Asthma
• Community Integration with a focus on Disability
• Maternal Health
• Behavioral Health
• COVID-19 and Vaccine Hesitancy

Most trainings are approximately 30 minutes in length and are available on demand for the convenience and availability of the learner. Each topic includes a resource document that can be downloaded and a brief quiz that can be re-taken as needed. Those that complete all trainings in the series can earn a certificate of completion from the Iowa Chronic Care Consortium.

Availability of Training

All seven trainings in this series are available on-demand at the learner’s convenience.

Length

The time needed to complete the entire Coffee Break Series is estimated to be 5 hours

Thanks to funding received from Amerigroup Iowa, there is no cost to the learner for this training series.

Certificate of Completion

Earning the certificate of completion requires the learner to view all seven modules, take the quizzes, and submit the course evaluation. Upon completion of these program elements, the learner will receive the certificate.

Questions

For questions about this training series, contact Deb Kazmerzak | deb.kazmerzak@iowaccc.com | 515.554.3788.

Overview

This course offers training for those responsible for supervision and oversight of the work of community health workers (CHWs). There are eight modules in this course.

• Module 1: CHW Roles and Scope
• Module 2: Leadership
• Module 3: Recruitment and Retention
• Module 4: CHW Career Pathways
• Module 5: CHW Models
• Module 6: Care and Community Team Integration
• Module 7: Caseload Monitoring
• Module 8: Dynamic Communication

Each section has specific objectives

Intended Audience

Some employees responsible for supervising CHWs have never served in the role. Further, it is not uncommon for employees to be promoted into a supervisor role without receiving formal training in supervision strategies.

This training is designed to ensure individuals charged with supervising CHWs are armed with understanding of who CHWs are and the work they do, and the knowledge and strategies they need to ensure CHWs are empowered and supported in their important roles.

Learning Objectives

Module 1 – CHW Roles and Scope

Review the roles and scope of Community Health Workers (CHWs).

Explore how supervisors can guide and support CHWs.

Module 2 - Leadership

Identify leadership styles and their influence on communication and supervision.

Module 3 - Recruitment and Retention

Explore policies impacting recruitment and retention.

Examine development and use of recruitment tools such as job descriptions and interview processes.

Evaluate strategies to improve retention.

Module 4 – CHW Career Pathways

Explore development and utilization of career pathways.

Module 5 – CHW Models

Describe six common models for CHW programs.

Discuss CHW program model selection.

Module 6 – Care and Community Team Integration

Define CHW integration.

Explore CHW integration in the community and healthcare settings.

Module 7 – Caseload Monitoring

Identify CHW monitoring practices, caseload size and management.

Explore metrics to measure and benchmark performance.

Support CHW success.

Module 8 – Dynamic Communication

Identify communication styles and ways to work with others’ styles.

Explore how miscommunication occurs.

Examine conflict resolution strategies.

Evaluate the open-door approach to communication.

Pre-requisites/Learning Level

Ability to read and understand spoken English.

Competencies Addressed

Learners will gain knowledge and competence in:

• Understanding community health worker roles and scope of practice
• Leadership styles and strategies for supporting CHWs
• CHW recruitment and retention strategies, including creating career pathways for CHWs
• CHW program models and considerations for implementation
• Monitoring and evaluating CHW performance
• Communication styles and strategies

CEUs Offered

CEUs are not available for this training.

Cost

There is no cost for this training.

Modality/format

Online self-paced, on demand.

Length

Approximately 3.5 hours.

There are eight brief modules in this course:

1. Structure and function of the oral cavity
2. Tooth eruption
3. Diseases and condition of the oral cavity
4. Oral health promotion and prevention
5. Fluoride, pits and fissure sealants
6. Oral health and systemic diseases, oral health and smoking
7. Oral health in pregnancy, children, older adults and special populations
8. Oral health services and resources in Iowa

Each module has specific objectives and a brief assessment. The assessments will provide you with an opportunity to apply the knowledge and skills presented in each module. Those completing each module and assessment successfully (average scores 75% or above) will earn a certificate of competence in basic oral health knowledge.

Intended Audience

The intended audience for this course is community health workers and other front-line workers that have client or patient-facing roles.

Learning Objectives

Provided within each module

Pre-requisites/Learning Level

No pre-requisites

Competencies Addressed

This training provides overview information necessary to acquire basic knowledge of oral health within the general and specific populations; the systemic connection to overall health; prevention and available safety net services and resources in Iowa.

CEUs Offered

None

Cost

Free

Modality/format

Online Self-Pace

Length

Approximately 1.5 hours

Presenter(s) and/or Content Experts

Dr. Olayinka Adekugbe
Mary Kelly

Technical requirements:

• Adobe Acrobat Reader
• Speakers or headphones

Registration requirements

Register a free account

Creation and/or update

May 2021