Community Health Workers Career Video
Description: Promote health within a community by assisting individuals to adopt healthy behaviors. Serve as an advocate for the health needs of individuals by assisting community residents in effectively communicating with healthcare providers or social service agencies. Act as liaison or advocate and implement programs that promote, maintain, and improve individual and overall community health. May deliver health-related preventive services such as blood pressure, glaucoma, and hearing screenings. May collect data to help identify community health needs.
Video Transcript
To community health workers and educators, your health is their business. They build healthy communities by educating and advocating for individuals and groups to meet their wellness needs. Community health professionals improve access to health information and care; they perform basic diagnostic procedures, attend community meetings, refer people to health services, collect information on the wellness concerns of the local community, and teach programs to address health issues. They work for hospitals, nonprofit organizations, government agencies, doctors’ offices, private businesses, and colleges. They may conduct research and develop educational programs on themes such as proper nutrition, immunizations, HIV/AIDs, stress management, or emergency preparedness. Community health workers and educators often work full time, and often travel locally to distribute materials and attend community meetings. Key qualities for these workers include communication skills, compassion, patience, and dependability. Job requirements vary, especially for the relatively new field of community health work. A related bachelor’s degree, or a Certified Health Education Specialist credential may be helpful; some health educator positions require a graduate degree.