Community Health Worker – Online Certificate
Make a difference in the lives of others in one semester with an exciting career as a Community Health Worker-a new role in healthcare!
A Community Health Worker (CHW) is a frontline public health worker who is a trusted member of and/ or has an unusually close understanding of the community served. This trusting relationship enables the worker to serve as a liaison/link/intermediary between health/social services and the community to facilitate access to services and improve the quality and cultural competence of service delivery.
Lake Area Tech offers students the opportunity to complete the online Community Health Worker certificate in one or two semesters. After completing the program, graduates will be equipped with the necessary skills to be employed in medical or social service positions focusing on client advocacy, health system navigation and resource coordination, health promotion, coaching and education.
Students choosing the online full-time or part-time Community Health Worker certificate program at Lake Area Technical College may begin in the fall or spring semester. The full-time option is completed in one semester and the part-time option is completed in two. Part-time spring starts will complete their second semester during the summer session of the same year.
Coursework is focused entirely on Community Health Worker-specific courses. The six classes are:
- CHW Role, Advocacy, Outreach and Resource Finding
- Health Communication, Teaching and Capacity Building
- Documentation, Legal and Ethical Issues
- Health Promotion I, focusing on health education and chronic disease
- Health Promotion II, focusing on Trauma Informed Care
- Internship, 60 hours spent learning about resources in your community
Please see the course outline links below for a complete listing.
Other program requirements include a laptop, background check, drug screening, and vaccinations based on internship-specific requirements.
For the more information, please email Kelly Heesch, CHW program instructor, at kelly.heesch@lakeareatech.edu.
