Community Health Worker Training Program - South Carolina State University, a public Historical Black College/University (HBCU), seeks to implement a Community Health Worker (CHW) Training Program for students to address health disparity and improve health equity in rural South Carolina, in addition to diversifying the public health workforce. High school and college students will be equipped to perform in a variety of health-related settings, such as academia, community, clinics, etc. These students will acquire core competencies for CHW and the Public Health working environment that follow state, local, and other guidelines to support essential public health services. The Program Objectives are listed below: Expansion: (1) Establish educational training curriculums and recruit, train and enable new CHWs and health support workers candidates to acquire core competencies for CHWs and Public Health certifications that follow state, local, or entity guidelines and support essential public health services. (2) Reduce barriers to CHW and health support worker program enrollment and retention by providing eligible trainees with participant support (e.g., tuition/fees, stipends, travel, etc.). Extension/Upskilling: (1) Provide additional training for current CHWs/health support workers to include the core competencies for Public Health and Essential Public Health Services, as needed. (2) Develop or enhance trainee curriculum around evidence-based core competencies for public health, including but not limited to emergency response education, prevention, treatment, and vaccine hesitancy research. Employment: (1) Implement hands-on CHW and health support worker integrated training through community-based partnerships that provide field placements in underserved communities. (2) Provide job placement services and on-the-job experiential training to new CHWs and health support workers through the Department of Labor or state/local registered apprenticeship programs. Health Equity: (1) Address
critical gaps in public health and community needs that can be filled by CHWs health support workers in communities that are disproportionately burdened by COVID-19, health inequities, limited access to technology, and the Social Determinants of Health (SDOH). (2) Increase the distribution and diversity of the CHW and health support workers workforce by recruiting, training, or employing, as applicable, individuals who will serve in underserved communities as integral members of integrated care teams. This project will be accomplished by the faculty and staff members from SC State University. Junior/senior students from local high schools and Historical Black Universities/Colleges (HBCUs) who reside in one of the underserved counties along the I-95 Corridor will be selected to participate in this grant-funded program if awarded. These students will be recruited and trained to be the next generation of minority Community Health Workers (CHWs) working in various health-related settings to address health disparity and improve the health equity faced by many individuals living in rural South Carolina. The grant period is from September 15, 2023, through September 14, 2022, and the project is located on the campus of South Carolina State University. This project seeks to diversify the public health workforce by increasing the number of minority CHWs in rural communities along the I-95 corridor to help reduce health disparities and enhance health equity. The team will develop a Community Health Worker Training Curriculum, which will be utilized to train students as CHWs. Through education, training, and experiential learning opportunities, CHWs will be equipped to provide effective community outreach, share health information and resources, build trust within the community, assist individuals in prevention services, and help underserved communities achieve health equity. The total funding request for this project is $3,000,000.
