2016 Year in Review

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Numbers Trained
In 2016, the National CHW Training Center delivered training to 1315 students (not un-duplicated counts). This total includes:

  • 1178 CHWs & 137 CHW Instructors
  • 55 Certification students & 1260 CEU students
  • 687 in-person & 628 online students

Presentations & Conferences

  • Healthy South Texas Community Expo, April 16, McAllen, TX
  • Baylor Scott & White Interprofessional Education & Research Symposium, April 20, College Station, TX
  • National Rural Health Association Health Equity Conference, May 10, Minneapolis, MN
  • Texas Gulf Coast CHW/Promotora Association Annual Conference, June 1, Houston, TX
  • Healthy South Texas Research Colloquium, June 2-3, College Station, TX
  • CHW Unity Conference, July 17-20, Atlanta, GA
  • American Public Health Association Annual Meeting, Oct. 30 – Nov. 2, Denver, CO

New Curricula Developed, Added, and/or Certified

  • Service Coordination for CHW Instructors – 4.0 CEUs
  • Introduction to Mental Health – 1.0 CEU
  • Connecting Children & Adolescents to Mental Health Care – 1.0 CEU
  • A Matter of Balance – 6.0 CEUs
  • Tobacco Cessation – 4.0 CEUs
  • Cancer Navigation – 5.0 CEUs
  • Overview of Healthy South Texas – 1.0 CEU
  • Asthma & Healthy Homes – 3.0 CEUs
  • Mental Health Certification Curriculum – 160 credit hours

Other Accomplishments & Celebrations

  • Marivel Sanchez joined our training center team through the ACTION project in April.
  • Blanca Macareno joined our training center full-time in June.
  • We transitioned to a new online learning management system, Moodle, this fall.
  • The CCHD implemented a new travel management system, Concur, this fall as well.
  • Paula Saldana named Outstanding CHW of the Year by the APHA CHW Section in November.

Projects

Madison Outreach and Services through Telehealth (MOST)
o Funder: Office of Rural Health Policy
o Summary: In partnership with local stakeholders in Madison County, CCHD and the NCHWTC held a series of interviews, meetings, and focus groups to explore the development of a CHW model to meet the healthcare and social service needs of underserved Hispanic residents of the area. Based on this feedback, we developed a condensed 32-hour “CHW 101” curriculum.

ACTION (Access to Cancer Treatment Information, Outreach, and Navigation) for CHWs
o Funder: Cancer Prevention Research Institute of Texas
o Summary: Building on the successes of previous SPH CPRIT projects (EPICO & C-STEP), the NCHWTC developed, revised, packaged, and disseminated cancer education and navigation training for CHWs. Trainings are available in-person and online, and partnerships allow the trainings to reach a broader audience through an affiliation model.

Healthy South Texas Initiative

o Funder: State of Texas
o Summary: The Healthy South Texas Initiative encompasses 27 counties and multiple projects focusing on diabetes, asthma, infectious diseases, and wellness. The NCHWTC is leading the CHW Task Force within HST, coordinating five CHW Workshops in Laredo, McAllen, Victoria, Corpus Christi, and Lake Jackson between July and November.

Working on Wellness
o Funder: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
o Summary: The WOW project focuses on reducing obesity through improving access to healthy food retail and opportunities for physical activity. NCHWTC team members are leading community-based education and outreach activities, developing curricula, and working with coalitions to improve policy, systems, and environmental determinants of wellness.

Tobacco Cessation
o Funder: Department of State Health Services
o Summary: Starting with an underutilized, English-language tobacco cessation training for clinical providers, the NCHWTC CHWs and instructors revised, adapted, and expanded the training into a DSHS-certified CEU for CHWs, available in-person and online, in English and in Spanish. The team has implemented the training across the state and actively marketed the online resources to stakeholders nationally.

UTRGV Collaboration
o Funder: United Health Foundation, through University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
o Summary: In partnership with UTRGV and South Texas College, NCHWTC revised a lapsed certification curriculum to generate an updated, behavioral health focused certification curriculum for STC, which was re-approved as a DSHS-certified training center in September. NCHWTC also offered an in-person CHW instructor certification course and ongoing technical assistance to support UTRGV and STC outreach activities in Cameron and Hidalgo Counties