Health Collective offers free four-month training to be a community health worker in Hartford

CT Insider – Thursday, November 14, 2024
By Cris Villalonga-Vivoni

HARTFORD — A local nonprofit is working to increase the number of community-based health care workers who can help people that might not be receiving desperately needed services.

The Health Collective recently launched a new four-month training course for Hartford residents interested in becoming community health workers. The program will cost $12,000, funded in part by the city, and the first group of five trainees will participate for free. Under the program, they will learn foundational skills, clinical training and earn state certifications that will allow them to work in the field. Applications for the program end on Nov. 15.

Founded in 1983, the Health Collective is a Hartford-based health and wellness center for the LGBTQIA+ community offering medical services and health education to under-served groups.

Chief Deputy Director Anthony DiLizia said the long-standing nonprofit created the Community Health Worker Program to better reach, educate and prepare residents in the Greater Hartford area. He said they wanted to launch their own training program to “empower individuals to take better control of their health and their community’s health.”

A community health worker, or a CHW, acts as a resource or liaison between the community and the health care system. DiLizia said they typically live in the communities they serve, which helps build trust and address health disparities. A CHW falls into the category of health support roles and typically works as part of a multidisciplinary team of health care or social service providers. Working alongside medical professionals allows them to serve a greater number of patients while also offering health education to the public, officials say.

CHWs are known by many names and often have roles encompassing many tasks, such as outreach, informal counseling, social support, patient advocacy, care coordination, risk assessments, and more. They are often found working in a variety of paid and unpaid roles in hospitals, community health centers, nonprofits and self-employed.

According to the Connecticut Health Foundation, a nonprofit that works towards health care equity, CHW services are cost-effective and can reduce the workforce shortage in medical care. They are also very beneficial to patients trying to meet specific health goals and can help address other life factors that impact their health, like housing, nutrition and transportation.

There are over 58,000 community health workers nationwide, according to the most current data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. In Connecticut, the bureau estimates that there are 560 across the state, earning more than $60,000 annually on average. But more are needed, health care officials say.

DiLizia said CHWs are critical in helping identify and report potential health concerns that can arise in individuals and in the communities they serve.

Connecticut has some of the biggest gaps in racial and ethnic health disparities in the nation, health care officials say. In the Hartford area, Black and Hispanic residents are more likely to go without health care than non-Hispanic white residents. Barriers to care include cost, transportation and mistrust in the health care system. A CHW from the community can bridge those gaps and help people better care for their health.

“Having those people who understand the cultures and understand the driving factors of how people make their medical decisions just reinforces the need to have those community health workers in place,” DiLizia said.

In 2020, Connecticut created a process so residents working as CHWs could apply for a voluntary Community Health Worker Certification process through the state Department Public Health. Certification is not required to work as a CHW in the state, but it is useful particularly when seeking employment.

There are two pathways to becoming a state-certified CHW in Connecticut, including a $100 application fee. The first is to receive training and education through an organization approved by the state Community Health Worker Advisory Body, submit professional and community references and work a minimum of 1,000 hours as a CHW during the three years prior.

The second avenue requires prospective workers to have at least 2,000 hours of paid or unpaid experience as community health workers and submit professional and community references.

DiLizia said the Health Collective program falls into the latter certification process. They are accepting only five Hartford-based residents into the program’s first round and no specific qualifications are needed for applicants. Instead, he said anyone can be a CHW if they have the passion and drive to learn.

The four-month program provides foundational knowledge about CHWs and their responsibilities, like care coordination and health education. Participants also have access to other critical training, such as CPR and a suicide prevention tool known as Question, Persuade, and Refer or QPR.

DiLizia said participants can shadow staff in the Health Collective’s medical and dental clinics. They will also connect with health and community organizations across Hartford to participate in mentorship programs.

After graduating, DiLizia said they will work within their community partner organizations to help participants find opportunities to hit the necessary 2,000-hour certification requirement. The Health Collective also plans to pay each application fee and offer each participant a stipend totaling $1,500 distributed over four months to alleviate economic barriers while they are being trained.

DiLizia said the funding from the city of Hartford is helping the collective make the program accessible and covering the stipends. He said the total amount of funding currently available only sustains the first cohort, but the collective is working to ensure the program can continue.

After the initial cohort graduates and more funding is secured, DiLizia said the plan is to expand the program and offer it on a yearly basis.

“Anybody can do this, and there’s no one right or wrong way to start, as long as you have the passion and the drive to serve your community,” he said. “That means you have what it takes to become a community health worker.”

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