Community Health Workers advocate for change at many levels!
Here are a few local and national resources that support CHW advocacy at every level.
Learn about current RI advocacy opportunites on the CHW Voices page or in the CHWARI newsletter.
Individual: This section supports decisions and behavior that affect health and well-being
- Self-care – Honoring our lived experience
- Envision Equity Workbooks
- CHW Self-Care / Autocuidado para CHWs
- Self-Care for Supervisors / Autocuidado para Supervisores
- Arizona State University CHW resiliency resources
- Envision Equity Workbooks
- Building your professional profile – telling your story
- Becoming a certified CHW
- RI CHW Bridge Campaign -resources from the RIDOH website
- The C3 Project Roles & Competencies
- C3 Council CHW Activity Book
- CHW Voices templates: How to introduce yourself in 3 words, cover letter (coming soon)
- Develop your LinkedIn profile
Interpersonal: this section is meant to help strengthen relationships
Envision’s “Sustainability Summit Toolkit” supports equitable CHW integration into health departments and sustainability planning for CHW programs. It is available in English and Spanish. Within it you will find these resources:
- Envision – 1:1 Conversation Guides (understanding what others are interested in)
- Envision – Message Box (craft your messages)
Organizational: this section is meant to build allyship with employers to strengthen org. policy and practices
- Alliance for CHW Employers: Collaborate with Allies to improve business practices
- Link to Navigation Guides: Medicaid & Medicare, Standing Orders and Common Indicators (Coming soon)
- Built Power Sustained: practical resources to support and sustain their CHW workforce
- Connect with Rhode Island’s Independent CHW Networks
Community: This section is meant to build connections, understand the needs and resources, and civic capacity.
- RI Health Equity Zones: Join local with communities to build the infrastructure needed to achieve healthy, systemic changes at the local level. Sign up here for newsletters.
- A Toolkit for Organizing Meaningful Events – from UnidosUS (2018)
Public Policy:
- RI Secretary of State: public and civic information, government contacts and more.
- Giving a Voice to Community Health Workers: Unitos Toolkit (2015)
- Common Cause RI: advocates for open, ethical, accountable, and effective government.
- CHW Voices, a Leadership & Advocacy meets on the last Monday of every month. More information about them and meeting dates are here.
Take this FREE Course to learn how to advocate effectively!!!
- The course is self-paced and takes approximately 5 hours, 36 minutes
- The training is available in English, French, and Spanish.
- A facilitator guide is available in English, French, and Spanish to support in-person training.
- A certificate is available upon course completion using www.chwadvocates.app
The course is organized into four modules:
- Module 1: The history and background of CHW programs
- Module 2: How to advocate for improved health care and working conditions
- Module 3: How to tell personal stories to advocate for change
- Module 4: How to use technology tools to participate in global conversations
Learn more on their website: chwadvocates.org/advocacycourse
See the Student Guide/Workbook
Spread the Word!
- Share with CHWs and Supervisors the Community Advocates Course here
- Follow the CHW Twitter List- @chw_impact/CHW Advocates Worldwide / Twitter
- Check out the Speaker Bureau- Speakers — CHW Advocate and recommend great CHWs
- Share the Viber Group Link with CHWs to join International Coalition of CHWs
- Share the Advocates Form with CHWs in your networks so that they can connect with one another and learn and share best practices on CHW advocacy.
- Invite CHWs to WhatsApp + WhatsApp and Viber to share Key Insights with CHWs across the globe.
Great resource from National Council of La Raza: https://unidosus.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/AdvocacyToolKitPeerSupport.pdf