Health Impact Ohio Hosts Community Health Worker Statewide Conference

By: Heidi Christman, Chief Operating Officer, Health Impact Ohio

Community Health Workers (CHWs), supervisors, and public health professionals from every corner of Ohio gathered in Columbus on September 8th, 2023, to celebrate their profession, learn from experts in public health, and take time to network and enjoy time together. Health Impact Ohio (HIO), in partnership with the Ohio Network of Certified Pathways Community HUBs (the Ohio Network of HUBs), hosted 200 CHWs for a full-day conference, and 140 for a pre-conference on September 7th. These events were supported with funding from sponsorship dollars from the Centers for Disease Control’s (CDC) “Community Health Workers for COVID Response and Resilient Communities (CCR) project, and HIO’s vendor sponsor, CareSource. 

The conference was inspired by the well-known term in the CHW space, “nothing about us without us.” The aim was to provide a safe, fun, and productive space for CHWs to garner what they desired from a conference in both education and experiential aspects. In March of 2023, HIO staff started the planning process by taking this effort on the road, visiting each HUB around the state for site visits. Each visit included a portion of time dedicated to gathering information directly from CHWs about what they would want to experience at a conference. As a result, a group of 15 CHWs came forward to dedicate time to becoming an official planning committee for the event.

Planning meetings took place bi-monthly from March to August 2023, with CHWs leading the charge to assemble conference content and events that would be meaningful to a diverse set of professionals around the state. What unfolded was a wildly successful conference from start to finish. Registration for the pre-conference and full-day conference was filled within a week of opening, and hotel room blocks were filled as soon as they were opened, facilitating the overnight stays of 140 individuals in Columbus.

The agenda that was built with the full collaboration of the planning committee was so full of rich content that some topics had to be tabled for virtual trainings in 2024. At the end of the planning committee, there were three sets of concurrent breakouts with three speakers per breakout, three plenary session speakers with multiple speakers per plenary, a comfort room with motivational speaking, breathing sessions, reflexology and massage, and vendor space that included everything from gun locks, fentanyl testing strips, baby diapers, COVID tests, and diaper bags, as well as several other items that CHWs were able to deliver to their clients.

Starting on September 7th, participating CHWs gathered to hear from HIO’s Chief Transformation Officer, Caroline Carter, on “What Motivates You?” A program aimed to help teams understand what drives their motivation personally and professionally. Participants were given a motivators assessment at the end of the session that will allow them to learn their own motivation sources. As a result of this presentation, several Pathways HUBs from different areas of the state requested follow-up from HIO to continue working with their teams to grow this idea of using motivation to inform workflows, relationships, and productivity.  CHWs then participated, due to very popular demand, in a painting demonstration with artists from a local business while enjoying refreshments and networking time. Simultaneously, there was a professional photographer on-site offering free headshots to CHWs in attendance.

The full-day conference began with immediate energy and excitement, bringing together 200 participants. Beginning the day, we welcomed Bobbi Krabill, from the Ohio Department of Health’s Center for Public Health Excellence, providing welcoming remarks to celebrate the impact CHWs have made in Ohio through the COVID-19 Pandemic with the support of the CDC CCR grant.

Next, participants heard from the conference keynote speakers, Dr. Bram Wispelwey and Tina Damalas from Partners In Health, a longtime partner in educating Ohio CHWs on the COVID-19 Pandemic and other important public health issues like communicable diseases, vaccination, and health equity in marginalized populations.

The lunch plenary brought beautiful passion and camaraderie among conference participants. Dr. Tanikka Price from HIO, Ericka Malone, CHW from Pathways HUB Community Action Akron Summit, and Director Angela Dawson from the Ohio Commission on Minority Health brought down the house with a look at how CHWs have been vital and pivotal in addressing the infant mortality crisis in the state of Ohio. Price and Malone shared their own inspirational stories from personal obstacles to raising thriving families and making careers in community and public health. Director Dawson provided an inspirational drive to keep up the fight in continuing to fight disparities and working toward breaking down racism to achieve health equity for marginalized communities across the state that CHWs serve.

Our final plenary was an opportunity for CHWs to better understand the recently funded “Ohio Center for Community Health Worker Excellence” that was created in the most recent State Budget. HIO President and CEO, Carrie Baker, provided a background and celebrated the work that CHWs did to advocate for the Center through the Budget process. She then quickly turned to giving the microphone to the CHWs to voice their ideas for how the Center should function, who should be at the table, and what issues the Center should address. As the Ohio Network of HUBs, HIO, and the Ohio Department of Health begin structuring the Center, this feedback will be vital.

Attendees were given the opportunity throughout the day to participate in breakout sessions that included a diverse set of topics that the CHW planning committee prioritized for the day. Sessions included content regarding:

• School-based Health Care and CHWs

• CHWs Role in Prevention

• The Equity Mapping Tool

• Adverse Childhood Experiences

• CHWs Role in Providing Care Coordination to Individuals with Disabilities.

• Certification for CHWs and Supervisors

• Immunization and Vaccination for Communicable Diseases

• CHW Safety

• Stroke and Chronic Disease Management and Prevention

HIO team members were honored to have the opportunity to work with our partner CHW planning members, the Ohio Network of HUBs, and of course all of our attendees in bringing this conference to fruition. It became apparent throughout the day, and in evaluations from the day that we’ve already outgrown the space that was used for the event. As we begin thinking about plans for next year, we will prioritize a larger space. We also very much look forward to expanding organizations we hope to partner with to plan a future conference, to centralize our efforts with others across the state to ensure CHWs are given what they deserve for the dedicated work they do across Ohio communities every day.

All resources from the conference are now available. For recordings, slides, and a summary of evaluation surveys, please click here.