Community health volunteers

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Community Health Volunteers

The CHVs act as a bridge between the community and, are front line public health workers who have a close understanding of the community they serve. This trusting relationship enables them to serve as a link between health/social services and the community to facilitate access to services and improve the quality and cultural competence of service delivery. CHV help reduce, and in some cases eliminate, the persistent disparities in health care and health outcomes in under-served communities.

Some of the volunteer responsibilities include:

• Delivering basic health education in disease prevention and wellness using culturally appropriate terms and concepts;
• Providing health education presentations to community underserved community members;
• Raising community awareness about the availability of free and low-cost health care coverage; and
• Assisting community members in accessing health care.

Heal Inc. has a diverse team that collectively speaks 4 different languages, including English, Spanish, Portuguese, Haitian Creole, Arabic , and Mandarin.

In order to make the CHV program successful and meaningful to both our volunteers and the community, a certain level of engagement is required in order to remain in the program. Every six months, CHVs must:

• Complete at least two training sessions;
• Dedicate at least 30 hours to the program through events or other service opportunities.

Prospective CHVs attend health education trainings facilitated by Heal Inc. public health programs outreach and Heal Medical Group clinical staff in a culturally and linguistically appropriate format. The curriculum includes workshops and training sessions on topics such as:

• Community health events
• Basic health screening (blood pressure, cholesterol, blood glucose, and weights and heights)
• Cancer awareness and prevention
• Nutrition and physical activity
• Health issues such as cardiovascular disease, hypertension, and diabetes
• Health access and outreach
• Fall prevention for Seniors
• Basic CPR and First Aid training
• Access to primary care and health insurance

The VHA Program Staff is comprised of a diverse group of motivated individuals with experience in community-based outreach and health education.

Event Coordinators support each of the CHA primary languages. Each Coordinator is bilingual and bi-cultural.

CHA currently has four Event Coordinators with each focusing on a different language group or specialty area: Haitian-speaking, Portuguese-speaking, Spanish-speaking, and Breast Health. The Coordinators work with the VHA Program Coordinator to provide communication and support to VHAs.