Publication: PHTCs Partner With Community Health Worker Organizations To Train & Support The CHW Workforce

We are happy to share this blog post written by NEPHTC’s Program Manager, Karla Todd Barrett, and Marcia Morales Villavicencio: “Public Health Training Centers Partner With Community Health Worker Organizations To Train And Support The CHW Workforce.”

This blog post highlights an article published in the Journal of Public Health Management and Practice, titled “Public Health Training Centers’ Support for Community Health Workers: Case Studies of Needs Assessment, Training, and Student Field Placement Initiatives.” The article details how three Public Health Training Centers teamed up with community health worker organizations to train the CHW workforce.

An excerpt from the blog post describes how public health training centers can build strong partnerships with CHW organizations:

Our case studies illustrate how PHTCs’ expertise in public health workforce development – specifically needs assessment, training design, development, delivery, and evaluation, and student field placements – can support CHW partner organizations and CHWs. As credentialing processes for CHWs evolve across the country, partnering (with PHTCs and other organizations) may be an effective way to augment the training available through CHW organizations to ensure CHWs can develop the skills they need to meet region-specific needs.

Importantly, the article and blog post highlight that in order to create sustainable partnerships, public health training centers must get to know CHWs and spend time with them in order to fully understand and support their specific needs.