Community Health Worker Profile Project

Health Impact Ohio continued its Community Health Worker (CHW) Profile Project this month by coordinating a Statewide CHW Video Interview to share reflections on our first year of the Community Health Workers for COVID Response and Resilient Communities (CDC CCR) grant and trainings.

We would like to thank all the Community Health Workers (CHWs), HUBs, and community partners who volunteered their time to participate in or collaborate on the interview. Health Impact Ohio is grateful to be able to highlight our CHWs from across the state and to share some insight into the impact our CHWs make each and every day.

Dr. Ayaz Hyder is a researcher at The Ohio State University College of Public Health. This month, The Ohio State Alumni Magazine highlights his work on turning “insights gleaned from the COVID-19 pandemic into tools that can help us respond to future public health crises” (Alcalde, 2022). As a valued member of Health Impact Ohio’s Board of Directors, we work closely with Dr. Hyder on our Community Health Workers for COVID Response and Resilient Communities grant. This grant work focuses on training the existing Community Health Worker (CHW) force in Ohio on COVID-19 and the continued development of the Equity Mapping Tool. This tool, which is currently available to a pilot group, will allow our CHWs to use data in real-time to address public health needs and to better serve our Ohio communities.

Please read the full article, He sees the potential for data to do good, linked below to gain insights into Dr. Hyder’s work throughout the pandemic and his data-driven work’s impact in Central Ohio.

Health Impact Ohio Completes the First Year of Community Health Workers for COVID Response and Resilient Communities Grant

By: Brittany Daniels, Director of Operations & Communications, Health Impact Ohio

The end of August signals the conclusion of the first year of Health Impact Ohio’s Community Health Workers for COVID Response and Resilient Communities (CDC CCR) grant. With funding from this three-year grant and support from community partners, Health Impact Ohio has offered 16 CDC CCR trainings to Community Health Workers (CHWs) since December 2021, with 160-200 CHWs across the state attending each training. 

Trainings have continued to cover a wide array of topics surrounding COVID-19, including:  

• Explanations of what COVIVD-19 is, how the virus works, variants, vaccines, boosters, and therapeutics  

• Best practices and safety measures for preventing and managing COVID-19 symptoms  

• Debunking common myths surrounding COVID-19 and vaccines  

• Education on vaccines in pregnant and breastfeeding people and vaccines in children 

• Evidence-based tactics rooted in behavioral economics on approaching and connecting with clients regarding COVID-19 education and vaccination 

• Facilitation of a housing panel to discuss how the COVID-19 pandemic affected and exacerbated issues surrounding housing and access to essential social services during the pandemic 

• Discussion on the impact and outreach in Latinx and Hispanic communities concerning COVID-19 

• Learning about the impact of outreach on populations with intellectual and developmental disabilities 

• Received reflections on the COVID-19 pandemic and CHW impact from managed care organizations 

• Examining the complexities of advanced care planning and considerations amid a pandemic.   

As we begin gearing up for the start of the second year of the grant, we find it important to reflect on the last year to assess the impact of our trainings, share successes stories and examine feedback to appropriately plan out a schedule that will best train this statewide group of CHWs in the future. 

Health Impact Ohio’s HUB Leadership Presents at CIVITAS 2022 Annual Conference

Resources on Childhood Vaccinations from the CDC