Upcoming Trainings
Training, Coaching, Support & Partnerships
A Community Health Worker is a trusted member of the community who empowers their peers through education and connections to health and social resources. The Community Health Worker Institute (CHWI) supports the advancement of the CHW workforce through training, coaching, showing impact in communities, and working in partnership with clinical teams. The CHWI’s training team is made up of Certified Community Health Workers (CCHWs) with years of experience. These trained professionals craft course curriculums that utilize the C3 project as a guideline, incorporate popular education and adult learning techniques that stress the importance of peer-to-peer learning throughout, and have been vetted by as well as co-created with CCHWs in the field.
CHW Core Competency Training:
The Community Health Worker Core Competency Training Curriculum is delivered utilizing participatory learning techniques and adult learning principles. Training is a total of approximately 161 hours. Those 161 hours are divided into 81 hours of facilitated learning and 80 hours of practicum experience. Not only does the training serve as an experiential learning opportunity that provides participants with the firm foundational knowledge necessary to begin work as a Community Health Worker, but the training also is a gateway to certification eligibility. After all phases of training have been completed, training participants will be prepared to sit for the South Carolina Community Health Worker Exam (administered by the South Carolina Community Health Worker Association). For more information please visit the webpage we have dedicated to this training.
PASOs Training for CHW Certification:
The PASOs’ curriculum has been based off the national level C3 Core Competencies’ recommendations which are related to the central roles of CHW’s and the skills and qualities that have been collectively defined as essential competencies. Additionally, this curriculum meets the localized standards put forth by the South Carolina Community Health Worker Association’s Core Competencies to meet the requirements of the credentialing council to be deemed certifiable. The training is all in Spanish and it has been designed with 80 hours of virtual/classroom-based training and 80 hours of practicum in-the-field training activities. This unique combination of lectured learning and training will develop the skills needed by CHWs and allow them to respond in effective ways to the needs of Latino individuals and families, reduce disparities in their health, and advocate for changes in the health care system.
For more information on this course please contact Ana Cossio at cossioam@mailbox.sc.edu .
CHW Health and Racial Equity Training:
This 20 hour course is tailored to enhance Community Health Workers to know their role and power as it relates to transforming inequities into equity through interactive, reflective, and peer-to-peer learning. CHW attendees will connect individual racial inequitable experiences to systemic level issues in order to challenge and transform them. Topics covered will foster understanding and preparation to enact how CHWs advance health and racial equity in the workplace, communities, and advance equity within the CHW profession. For additional information please contact Mike Young, MA, CHW at youngmf2@email.sc.edu .
Perinatal CHW Workshop:
The Perinatal CHW Workshop is a 30-hour interactive course that complements the CHW Core Competency Training with specific information and skills for working with families during the perinatal period (preconception, pregnancy, and up to the baby’s 2nd birthday). The workshop covers Life Course health, reproductive life planning, contraceptive counseling, stages of pregnancy and labor, developmental milestones, infant safety, and building CHW skills for the perinatal period. For additional information please contact Sarah Covington-Kolb at sc77@mailbox.sc.edu .
CHW Supervisor Training:
The CHW Supervisor Training is designed for individuals who want to gain a better understanding of the CHW Model in order to more effective support the work of their CHW employees. This training provides supervisors with the opportunity to develop a better understanding of the critical role of CHWs in the communities they serve and how to address common challenges when supervising CHWs. This virtual 9 hour course is currently available for $500. Please contact Mychelle Harris at mychelle@sc.edu for more information.
LGBTQIA+ Training:
Our LGBTQIA+ specialty track is a training currently being co-developed by CCHA and Dr. Vanessa Kitzie’s team at the UofSC School of Library and Information Science. With the input of participants who identify as members of/ally’s close to the LGBTQIA+ community, the co-developers aim to provide this 30-hour training as a resource to Community Health Workers, other community-facing professionals, or anyone interested in such who want to gain a better understanding of the LGBGTQIA+ community, historical strengths and barriers relevant to the community, and potential ways to support the community in efforts to work towards equitable health. Full development of the training is anticipated to be complete in the first quarter of 2022. If you are interested in this training or would like more information, please contact Community Health Worker Institute Training Assistant, Mychelle Harris at mychelle@sc.edu.
Gender Affirming Care:
Our Gender Affirming Care specialty track is a training that was co-developed with the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill’s Center for Health Equity Research. The 10 hour module aims to equip CHWs, other community facing health professionals, or anyone interested in advancing equity in the community with foundational tools to provide gender affirming care for all (especially transgender people of color). This training has been developed and piloted and will be facilitated upon expressed demand(and current CCHA capacity). If you are interested in this training or would like more information, please contact Community Health Worker Institute Training Assistant, Mychelle Harris at mychelle@sc.edu.
HIV 101 Training:
Our HIV 101 specialty track is a training that was co-developed with the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill’s Center for Health Equity Research. The 10 hour module aims to equip CHWs, other community facing health professionals, or anyone interested in advancing equity in the community with foundational tools to provide gender affirming care for all (especially transgender people of color). This training has been developed and piloted and will be facilitated upon expressed demand(and current CCHA capacity). If you are interested in this training or would like more information, please contact Community Health Worker Institute Training Assistant, Mychelle Harris at mychelle@sc.edu.
Rural Health Training:
Our Rural Health specialty track was developed based on combined efforts from the UofSC School of Social work, South Carolina Office of Rural Health, and Community Health Workers across the state who work in rural South Carolina. This training is a two-day participatory workshop for health professionals working in the scope of a CHW or professionals interested in learning how to more effectively conceptualize and engage in work with members of rural communities. In exchange for formal feedback, participants will be offered certificates of completion.
If you would like more information, please contact Community Health Worker Institute Training Assistant, Mychelle Harris at mychelle@sc.edu.
Adolescent Maternal and Child Heath Specialty Track Training:
Our Adolescent Maternal and Child Health Specialty Track was co-developed with Fact Forward. The 30 hour participatory training experience is designed to lay the foundation for CHWs or other health professionals with similar responsibilities who aim to provide quality care for adolescents with perinatal health needs.
This training has been developed and will be facilitated based upon expressed demand (and current CCHA capacity). If you are interested in this training or would like more information, please contact Community Health Worker Institute Training Assistant, Mychelle Harris at mychelle@sc.edu.
Adolescent Sexual Health Specialty Track Training:
Our Adolescent Sexual Health Specialty Track was co-developed with Fact Forward. The 10 hour participatory training experience is designed to lay the foundation for CHWs or other health professionals with similar responsibilities who aim to provide quality support to adolescents navigating resources related to their sexual health. This training has been developed and will be facilitated based upon expressed demand (and current CCHA capacity). If you are interested in this training or would like more information, please contact Community Health Worker Institute Training Assistant, Mychelle Harris at mychelle@sc.edu.
Opioid Misuse Prevention Training:
Our Opioid Use Disorder Curriculum was co-developed by full time staff within CCHA and development was spearheaded by former CCHA practicum student, Selena Ready DeConti. The curriculum development included an in depth literature review as well as extensive consultation from Community Health Workers with experience in substance use prevention settings. The finalized curriculum is 10 hours of participatory learning that encompasses topics including, but not limited to Opioid Use Disorder trends/statistics, opioid overdose prevention concepts, treatment and recovery concepts, communications strategies related to stigma, patient privacy considerations, and the role of Community Health Workers in the effort to reduce the negative impacts of opioid use. This training has been developed and will be facilitated based upon expressed demand (and current CCHA capacity). If you are interested in this training or would like more information, please contact Community Health Worker Institute Training Assistant, Mychelle Harris at mychelle@sc.edu.
Diabetes Prevention Training:
CCHA is currently in the process of developing a 4 hour diabetes specialty track training. The training is meant to serve as an introductory or “refresher” learning experience for Community Health Workers or other community facing professionals who believe this foundational knowledge related to populations impacted by diabetes could assist them in serving their community.
If you would like more information about this training, please contact Community Health Worker Institute Training Assistant, Mychelle Harris at mychelle@sc.edu.