LCHD accepting students for CHW program

LEE COUNTY - The Lee County Health Department, Southeast Iowa Regional Medical Center, and Carthage Memorial have partnered with Southeastern Community College to develop a free of charge 80-hour Community Health Worker (CHW) certificate course.
Community Health Workers (CHWs) play a vital role in improving wellness and health outcomes at a local level. They are trained to bridge the gap between communities, health care, and local resources. CHWs typically work with those who are disadvantaged and/or underserved. CHW responsibilities may include:

• Providing informal, non-clinical counseling, support and follow-up
• Helping people understand their health condition(s) and develop strategies to improve their health and well being
• Delivering health information using culturally appropriate terms and concepts
• Linking people to local resources, social services, and healthcare

CHWs can be utilized in many different professions and organizations ranging from church ministry to nurse to family advocate. This certificate program will prepare participants to apply the skills and knowledge from the course within their current or future employment and/or volunteer positions.
Acting as the bridge between people and services, CHWs typically have shared life experiences with the communities they serve. For this reason, we are specifically interested in diverse applicants including, but not limited to: people of color, people living with disability, low-income households, first generation college students, people living with mental health challenges, and/or people in recovery.
If you are interested in enrolling, please call Pam at SCC: 319-208-5391.