Rhode Island Hospital
Two Positions: 1 Part-time, 20 hours, 1 Full-time, 40 hours
Bilingual Spanish Required
Experience Required
CHW Certification Preferred
Summary:
The Community Health Worker (CHW) provides navigational case management and home/community-based services as well as direct asthma education and environmental control strategies in collaboration with certified asthma educators to children at risk or diagnosed with asthma and their families who are referred to community home-based and school based pediatric asthma management education and intervention programs.
A 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 CHW 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.
A CHW also builds individual and community capacity by increasing health knowledge and self-sufficiency through a range of activities such as outreach community education informal counseling social support and advocacy.� (APHA CHW Section)
Specifically the role of the CHW is to:
– Operate in a supportive role within an interdisciplinary health care team utilizing an integrated care and treatment model.
– Provide screening outreach case management navigational and standardized evidence-based asthma intervention services to children and their caregivers who are referred for pediatric asthma management education and intervention programs.
– Collaborate with the medical home- primary care (PCP) hospital based community (e.g. certified asthma educators) and school based health care providers (e.g. School Nurse Teachers) to deliver interventions that will maximize child asthma health outcomes.
Responsibilities:
ESSENTIAL DUTIES:
Under general supervision of the supervisory team the CHW is responsible for performing the following essential job functions:
Builds trust with children and their caregivers in order to provide support empowerment education intervention and case management of pediatric asthma related health care services.
Recruits prospective families in clinical and community settings providing information about initiatives directing families to eligible programs and following up as appropriate.
Advises children and their caregivers regarding asthma health care plan and other asthma related community resources available to them; assists children and caregivers in utilizing asthma health care services; makes follow-up contacts when required.
Conducts periodic assessments of asthma related health behaviors such as exposure to allergens medication compliance and environmental asthma management practices.
Educates children and caregivers about evidence-based pediatric asthma standards of care and asthma self-management practices.
Educates children and families about the health care system appropriate sites of care and self-navigation all in an effort to help the children and their families build skills to become self-sufficient and manage their health independently.
Documents work with children and families through appropriate record keeping that follows the policies and procedures; assists with gathering data relevant to program evaluation as appropriate.
Operates effectively in multi-disciplinary clinical and community settings which may include participating regularly in program meetings and attending medical visits upon request.
Participates in team and all staff meetings.
Provide support and assistance in the coordination and implementation of specific initiatives and community events (e.g. Asthma Camp afterschool community events).
Serves as liaison between the professional staff and the community; including developing and maintaining relationships with various stakeholders in the community.
Attends ongoing training for community health workers including standardized RI Department of Health asthma education and home visiting training program.
Practices clear effective consistent communication with clients and colleagues.
Demonstrates privacy and confidentiality meeting all related training and practice requirements of the Lifespan system.
Works nights and weekends as required.
Other duties as assigned.
Other information:
QUALIFICATIONS – EXPERIENCE:
Two (2) years of verifiable experience providing information education intervention and/or referral services to culturally diverse populations. Recent experience (last 5 years) working as part of a multi-disciplinary team in a health care setting preferred.
Community Health Worker certification in Rhode Island preferred but not required.
Experience with motivational interviewing advising/counseling clients and/or participating in health promotion and health education activities.
Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
Excellent organization thorough record-keeping follow through and ability to juggle multiple priorities in fast-paced environment with multiple collaborators.
Demonstrated excellent attendance and reliability.
Prior experience using an electronic health record preferred.
Bilingual English/Spanish required.