Picture this: A dedicated professional walking through a neighborhood, speaking with residents about their health concerns, helping them navigate complex healthcare systems, and ensuring they have access to essential services.
Think about someone who serves as both a trusted community member and a healthcare liaison, breaking down barriers to medical care while respecting cultural sensitivities and local traditions.
Community Health Workers are essential frontline public health professionals who foster community wellbeing through outreach, education, and advocacy. They play a crucial role in reducing health disparities and improving health outcomes in diverse communities.
Total Employment: 63,400
Common Names for Community Health Workers
- 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)
What Community Health Workers Do
Community Health Workers advocate for healthy living within communities by assisting individuals to adopt healthy behaviors. They serve as liaisons between health/social services and the community to facilitate access to services and improve health knowledge. Their core responsibilities include:
- Patient Care Coordination: Work with patients and other healthcare workers to make sure everyone gets the right care at the right time.
- Health Assessment: Check how healthy patients are by measuring things like temperature and blood pressure, and asking about their health history.
- Medical Documentation: Write down all important patient information so other healthcare workers can understand what’s happening.
- Safety Protocol Implementation: Make sure everyone follows safety rules to keep patients and workers healthy and safe.
- Healthcare Education: Teach patients and their families about health problems and how to take care of themselves.
- Treatment Administration: Give medicines and basic medical care following doctors’ instructions and watches how patients respond.
- Team Communication: Talk and work well with other healthcare workers to give patients the best care possible.
- Quality Assurance: Help make healthcare better by following rules, reporting problems, and suggesting improvements.
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