
Community Health Worker Network of Buffalo is for CHWs- those OF and FROM the communities they serve and/or with close and trusting relationships with the community. This trusting relationship enables the worker to serve as a 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.
Common Questions about CHWs
-
“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. This trusting relationship enables the worker to serve as a 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 community health worker 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.”
American Public Health Association (apha.org)
-
Depending on the needs of the target population, the role of CHWs and the specific services that they provide vary. There is a set of nationally recognized roles, skills, and qualities for CHWs that was drawn from an analysis of existing data and a consensus of CHW leaders. It was published in April 2016 by the CHW Common Core (C3) Project.1
-
*Cultural Mediation Among Individuals, Communities, and Health and Social Service Systems
*Providing Culturally Appropriate Health Education and Information
*Care Coordination, Case Management, and System Navigation
*Providing Coaching and Support
*Advocating for Individuals and Communities
*Building Individual and Community Capacity
*Providing Direct Service
*Implementing Individual and Community Assessments
*Conducting Outreach
*Participating in Evaluation and Research -
*Community Health Worker
*Outreach worker
*Service Coordinator
*Case manager
*Community educator
*Advocate
*Community engagement coordinator
*Patient navigator
*Counselor
*Youth Coordinator
*Parent facilitator
*Peer educator
What is the impact of CHWs? The stories . . .
“One of my first clients was a teenage mother who had a newborn baby ... she was sleeping on a friend’s couch. She had nothing for the baby and he was sleeping in a cardboard box. Still, she was keeping him safe and close to her, and she seemed to desperately want to do better for herself and him. I helped the mother get diapers, clothes, and a bassinet. She told me that I had given her something bigger than the ‘stuff‐ I had given her hope.”
“You made me feel like a human again for the first time in a long time.”
““The impact of parents and students creating a healthier school environment in our District cannot be underestimated. We were able to make significant policy and systems change when we began actively working with parents as full partners.” ”