How to become a Community Health Worker 2024

Community Health Worker Promote health within a community by assisting individuals to adopt healthy behaviors. Serve as an advocate for the health needs of individuals by assisting community residents in effectively communicating with healthcare providers or social service agencies. Act as liaison or advocate and implement programs that promote, maintain, and improve individual and overall community health. May deliver health-related preventive services such as blood pressure, glaucoma, and hearing screenings. May collect data to help identify community health needs.

Community Health Worker is Also Know as

In different settings, Community Health Worker is titled as

Apprise Counselor
Community Health Outreach Worker
Community Health Program Coordinator
Community Health Program Representative (Community Health Program Rep)
Community Health Promoter
Community Health Worker (CHW)
Community Nutrition Educator
HIV CTS Specialist (Human Immunodeficiency Virus Counseling and Testing Services Specialist)

Education and Training of Community Health Worker

Community Health Worker is categorized in Job Zone Four: Considerable Preparation Needed

Experience Required for Community Health Worker

A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations. For example, an accountant must complete four years of college and work for several years in accounting to be considered qualified.

Education Required for Community Health Worker

Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.

Degrees Related to Community Health Worker

Training Required for Community Health Worker

Employees in these occupations usually need several years of work-related experience, on-the-job training, and/or vocational training.

Related Ocuupations

Some Ocuupations related to Community Health Worker in different industries are

What Do Community Health Worker do?

Administer immunizations or other basic preventive treatments.
Advise clients or community groups on issues related to diagnostic screenings, such as breast cancer screening, pap smears, glaucoma tests, or diabetes screenings.
Advise clients or community groups on issues related to improving general health, such as diet or exercise.
Advise clients or community groups on issues related to risk or prevention of conditions, such as lead poisoning, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), prenatal substance abuse, or domestic violence.
Advise clients or community groups on issues related to sanitation or hygiene, such as flossing or hand washing.
Advise clients or community groups on issues related to self-care, such as diabetes management.
Advise clients or community groups on issues related to social or intellectual development, such as education, childcare, or problem solving.
Advise clients or community groups to ensure parental understanding of the importance of childhood immunizations and how to access immunization services.
Advocate for individual or community health needs with government agencies or health service providers.
Attend community meetings or health fairs to understand community issues or build relationships with community members.
Conduct home visits for pregnant women, newborn infants, or other high-risk individuals to monitor their progress or assess their needs.
Contact clients in person, by phone, or in writing to ensure they have completed required or recommended actions.
Distribute flyers, brochures, or other informational or educational documents to inform members of a targeted community.
Identify or contact members of high-risk or otherwise targeted groups, such as members of minority populations, low-income populations, or pregnant women.
Identify the particular health care needs of individuals in a community or target area.
Interpret, translate, or provide cultural mediation related to health services or information for community members.
Maintain updated client records with plans, notes, appropriate forms, or related information.
Monitor nutrition of children, elderly, or other high-risk groups.
Perform basic diagnostic procedures, such as blood pressure screening, breast cancer screening, or communicable disease screening.
Provide basic health services, such as first aid.
Provide feedback to health service providers regarding improving service accessibility or acceptability.
Refer community members to needed health services.
Teach appropriate parenting behaviors to individuals or families.
Teach classes or otherwise disseminate medical or dental health information to school groups, community groups, or targeted families or individuals, in a manner consistent with cultural norms.
Assist families to apply for social services, including Medicaid or Women, Infants, and Children (WIC).
Collect information from individuals to compile vital statistics about the general health of community members.
Develop plans or formal contracts for individuals, families, or community groups to improve overall health.
Report incidences of child or elder abuse, neglect, or threats of harm to authorities, as required.
Transport or accompany clients to scheduled health appointments or referral sites.

Qualities of Good Community Health Worker

Oral Comprehension: The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
Oral Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
Written Comprehension: The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
Speech Clarity: The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
Speech Recognition: The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
Problem Sensitivity: The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem.
Written Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
Deductive Reasoning: The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
Near Vision: The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
Inductive Reasoning: The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
Category Flexibility: The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.
Information Ordering: The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
Originality: The ability to come up with unusual or clever ideas about a given topic or situation, or to develop creative ways to solve a problem.
Finger Dexterity: The ability to make precisely coordinated movements of the fingers of one or both hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble very small objects.
Time Sharing: The ability to shift back and forth between two or more activities or sources of information (such as speech, sounds, touch, or other sources).
Selective Attention: The ability to concentrate on a task over a period of time without being distracted.
Fluency of Ideas: The ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity).
Far Vision: The ability to see details at a distance.
Flexibility of Closure: The ability to identify or detect a known pattern (a figure, object, word, or sound) that is hidden in other distracting material.
Speed of Closure: The ability to quickly make sense of, combine, and organize information into meaningful patterns.
Arm-Hand Steadiness: The ability to keep your hand and arm steady while moving your arm or while holding your arm and hand in one position.
Visualization: The ability to imagine how something will look after it is moved around or when its parts are moved or rearranged.
Memorization: The ability to remember information such as words, numbers, pictures, and procedures.
Control Precision: The ability to quickly and repeatedly adjust the controls of a machine or a vehicle to exact positions.
Perceptual Speed: The ability to quickly and accurately compare similarities and differences among sets of letters, numbers, objects, pictures, or patterns. The things to be compared may be presented at the same time or one after the other. This ability also includes comparing a presented object with a remembered object.
Mathematical Reasoning: The ability to choose the right mathematical methods or formulas to solve a problem.
Hearing Sensitivity: The ability to detect or tell the differences between sounds that vary in pitch and loudness.
Visual Color Discrimination: The ability to match or detect differences between colors, including shades of color and brightness.
Manual Dexterity: The ability to quickly move your hand, your hand together with your arm, or your two hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble objects.
Multilimb Coordination: The ability to coordinate two or more limbs (for example, two arms, two legs, or one leg and one arm) while sitting, standing, or lying down. It does not involve performing the activities while the whole body is in motion.
Auditory Attention: The ability to focus on a single source of sound in the presence of other distracting sounds.
Depth Perception: The ability to judge which of several objects is closer or farther away from you, or to judge the distance between you and an object.
Reaction Time: The ability to quickly respond (with the hand, finger, or foot) to a signal (sound, light, picture) when it appears.
Static Strength: The ability to exert maximum muscle force to lift, push, pull, or carry objects.
Trunk Strength: The ability to use your abdominal and lower back muscles to support part of the body repeatedly or continuously over time without "giving out" or fatiguing.
Stamina: The ability to exert yourself physically over long periods of time without getting winded or out of breath.
Response Orientation: The ability to choose quickly between two or more movements in response to two or more different signals (lights, sounds, pictures). It includes the speed with which the correct response is started with the hand, foot, or other body part.
Rate Control: The ability to time your movements or the movement of a piece of equipment in anticipation of changes in the speed and/or direction of a moving object or scene.
Number Facility: The ability to add, subtract, multiply, or divide quickly and correctly.
Wrist-Finger Speed: The ability to make fast, simple, repeated movements of the fingers, hands, and wrists.
Gross Body Coordination: The ability to coordinate the movement of your arms, legs, and torso together when the whole body is in motion.
Extent Flexibility: The ability to bend, stretch, twist, or reach with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Dynamic Strength: The ability to exert muscle force repeatedly or continuously over time. This involves muscular endurance and resistance to muscle fatigue.
Speed of Limb Movement: The ability to quickly move the arms and legs.
Night Vision: The ability to see under low-light conditions.
Peripheral Vision: The ability to see objects or movement of objects to one's side when the eyes are looking ahead.
Spatial Orientation: The ability to know your location in relation to the environment or to know where other objects are in relation to you.
Gross Body Equilibrium: The ability to keep or regain your body balance or stay upright when in an unstable position.
Glare Sensitivity: The ability to see objects in the presence of a glare or bright lighting.
Sound Localization: The ability to tell the direction from which a sound originated.
Dynamic Flexibility: The ability to quickly and repeatedly bend, stretch, twist, or reach out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Explosive Strength: The ability to use short bursts of muscle force to propel oneself (as in jumping or sprinting), or to throw an object.

Tools Used by Community Health Worker

Automated blood pressure cuffs
Blood glucose monitoring equipment
Computer ink jet printers
Computer laser printers
Emergency first aid kits
Laptop computers
Laser facsimile machines
Manual blood pressure cuffs
Multi-line telephone systems
Passenger cars
Personal computers
Photocopying equipment

Technology Skills required for Community Health Worker

Apple macOS
Client databases
Electronic health record EHR software
Google Workspace software
Microsoft Access
Microsoft Excel
Microsoft Office software
Microsoft Outlook
Microsoft PowerPoint
Microsoft Publisher
Microsoft Word
SmugMug Flickr
Web browser software
Zoom

US Universities

How to become Community Health Worker in 2024