Howard County General Hospital (HCGH) received accreditation from the Maryland Department of Health to provide training and certification for community health workers. Community health workers connect people in groups who have traditionally lacked adequate health care with health care and social services providers.
Workers include health advocates, health coaches, lay health educators, public health workers, health representatives and outreach workers.
Offered three times a year, the community health worker training is a 14- to 15-week program that consists of 117 hours of online and virtual real-time sessions, as well as in-person activities. This includes:
- Weekly modules with prerecorded learning which offers schedule flexibility
- Weekly discussion board posts online
- 40-hour supervised practicum taken at HCGH or an approved site
- Learning activities via live video or in person with social and physical distancing
The training will cover advocacy and community capacity building, communication and cultural competency, ethics and confidentiality issues, local resources and system navigation, care coordination, teaching to promote health, outreach methods and strategies, as well as public health concepts and health literacy.
The deadline for registration for the first cohort that begins Jan. 11, 2021, is Dec. 29. The program cost is $999.
HCGH’s Community Care Team ̶ consisting of community health nurses, health workers and social workers who support patients by collaborating with hospital departments, home care agencies, nonprofit organizations, advocacy groups and government agencies ̶ will lead the training.
To learn more or register, visit http://bit.ly/chw-training, call 410-720-8788 or email [email protected].