There are lots of ways to advocate for change! We are adding more resources to this page but here are a few great ones!
Join the RI CHW Network for Advocacy and Leadership!
This group formed in 2023 to gather the hope and energy needed to make positive change in RI. See one of their flyers here. The registration link works, even if the date has passed. They meet on the last Monday of every month. Register for their next meeting here.
Email Geraldine McPhee, CCHW with questions MCPHEE@RIPIN.ORG
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.
Rhode Island is 1 of 6 states to receive a large federal grant to combat the opioid epidemic, and Community Health Workers are integrated as critical to this process of “Recovery Through Opportunity.”
For more on the grant see the press release on Senator Whitehouse’s website, at this link.
CHWs well represented in Health Equity Summit September 20, 2018
Read bout some of the great conversations that happened at the recent Health Equity Summit sponsored by the RI Department of Health. Several organizations using Community Health Workers, such as Project Weber/RENEW, Clinica Esperanza, and Health Equity Zones, are highlighted in this article by Richard Asinof of ConvergenceRI. Read it here.
Rhode Island’s Health Equity Zones do great work cultivating health advocates from within communities to capitalize on those communities’ strengths.
“Rhode Island’s Health Equity Zone initiative is an innovative, place-based approach that brings communities together to build the infrastructure needed to achieve healthy, systemic changes at the local level. Health Equity Zones are geographic areas where existing opportunities emerge and investments are made to address differences in health outcomes. Through a collaborative, community-led process, each Health Equity Zone conducts a needs assessment and implements a data-driven plan of action to address the unique social, economic, and environmental factors that are preventing people from being as healthy as possible.” – (Rhode Island Department of Health, Health Equity Zones [HEZ] Initiative, health.ri.gov)
For more information on the program and specific HEZs, please visit its webpage here.