Project Update From Health Impact Ohio
Community Health Workers for COVID Response and Resilient Communities Update
By: Brittany Daniels, Director of Operations & Communications, Health Impact Ohio
In September 2021, Health Impact Ohio was “awarded a 3-year, $5 million dollar per year grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to manage a statewide, comprehensive initiative to engage Community Health Workers (CHWs) around the state to provide coordinated connection to COVID-19 education, care, and social services” (News Release, Health Impact Ohio). As we are now halfway through our first year of the grant, we are examining our training efforts thus far and looking ahead to see how we can augment future training to better meet our CHWs where they are. Working in conjunction with our evaluation team, we have received invaluable feedback from subcontractors, HUB leadership, and, most importantly, CHWs from across the state regarding the impact, useability, and relatability of the trainings offered to this point, and how trainings should be modified in the future. This feedback allows Health Impact Ohio to provide evidence-based, timely information surrounding COVID-19 and related community issues while meeting the educational needs and interests of CHWs statewide to help better connect their clients to the resources they need.
“Health Impact Ohio aims to provide comprehensive, inclusive, and actionable training on COVID-19 and its effects, both medical and social, on different populations in our communities across the state so that we can better understand and address the immediate and long term needs of our Ohio communities,” said Carrie Baker, President & CEO, Health Impact Ohio.
Since our first training in December, in conjunction with our training partners, we have covered several topics on COVID-19 and community issues related to COVID-19. Our training partner, Partners In Health, presented concepts including what COVID-19 is, how the COVID -19 virus works, variants, vaccines, boosters, therapeutics, and dispelling myths about the COVID-19 virus and COVID-19 vaccines. Partners In Health also provided specific training on vaccines in pregnant and breastfeeding people and vaccines in children. Additionally, our training partner from Nationwide Children’s Hospital provided education on behavioral economics messaging and offered evidence-based tactics rooted in behavioral economics on approaching and connecting with clients regarding COVID-19 education and vaccination. Our training partners from The Ohio State University have also delivered an overview and progress update on the Equity Mapping Tool to be utilized by CHWs participating in the grant to use in their daily work to serve their communities.
In March, we facilitated 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. These topics included how to help clients maintain housing if experiencing financial difficulties, how to apply for affordable housing, how and where to obtain housing assistance, and how to find available housing once aid is received. CHWs from across the state raised valid concerns about barriers they have faced helping their clients maintain, find and secure affordable housing and shared tactics and resources they utilized to successfully close pathways for their clients.
This month, we hosted a CHW from the Ohio Hispanic Coalition to discuss the impact and outreach in Latinx and Hispanic communities concerning COVID-19. CHWs discussed issues impacting the Latinx community, including their lack of access to COVID-19 education and the complexities surrounding their ability to obtain healthcare, health insurance, or other social service assistance. Participants provided options for finding evidence-based information in Spanish and other languages, and ways to help CHWs build trust within the Latinx community to connect with their clients and become trusted messengers with strong ties in their community.
These trainings and our Community Health Worker Advisory Council create a legitimate space for CHWs to voice their expert opinions and share their knowledge statewide with their peers to work toward improving and uplifting the current CHW workforce. "Health Impact Ohio recognizes that the pandemic is ever-changing and is prepared to adapt trainings as necessary to address those changes. As we look toward planning for the second year of this initiative, we want to keep in mind the specific issues our CHWs have raised to provide more targeted, in-depth pieces of training on the actual needs our CHWs see in their communities every day,” stated Heidi Christman, Chief Operating Officer, Health Impact Ohio. Our CHW Advisory Council plays a critical role in these efforts by meeting monthly to participate in deep dive focus group discussions. These discussions cover an array of topics, including behavioral economics messaging tools, needs and wants from the Equity Mapping Tool, the effectiveness of information utilized from training with clients, training experience improvement, self-care, and sharing barriers and success stories.
Health Impact Ohio is proud to be working with and learning from such a diverse, experienced group of CHWs and partners to help push Ohio forward in improving health equity and access through the lens of COVID-19 and beyond. We look forward to executing our training schedule for the remainder of the grant year, covering topics such as the impact and outreach in populations with intellectual and developmental disabilities, reflections on the COVID-19 pandemic and CHW impact from managed care organizations, and advanced care planning and considerations amid a pandemic, and more.
Click here to read Health Impact Ohio’s News Release quoted above.
