Community Health Worker – Pediatric Weight Control

Miriam Hospital
1 Full-time, 1 Part-time
Bilingual Spanish Preferred
Experience Required
CHW Certification Preferred

Summary:
The Community Health Worker (CHW) provides navigational case management and home/community-based services to members of the community. 

The Community Health Worker working with the pediatric weight control program provides navigational case management and community-based group-intervention to children with overweight/obesity and their families delivered in the setting of either health care or public housing.  

A Community Health Worker 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)

Responsibilities:
Specifically the role of the community health worker working with the pediatric weight control program is to: – Operate in a supportive role within an interdisciplinary research team to deliver evidence-based pediatric weight control intervention within a community setting. – Provide screening outreach case management navigational and manualized evidence-based pediatric weight control intervention services to children and their caregivers.- Serve as a liaison between families community organizations and the research team in the delivery of weight management treatment to maximize children’s health outcomes. 


ESSENTIAL DUTIES: 
Under general supervision of the pediatric weight control research 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 to families seeking pediatric weight control treatment. 
Recruits prospective families in clinical and community settings providing information about the pediatric weight control program and following up as appropriate. 
Delivers evidence-based pediatric weight control intervention to groups of children and families in a health care or community setting. 
Advises children and their caregivers regarding available community resources to support healthy eating and physical activity; assists children and caregivers in utilizing such resources; makes follow-up contacts when required. 
Conducts periodic assessments of health behaviors such as patient’s physical activity dietary habits; social factors such as housing and employment status; and social and economic resources. 
Documents services provided to children and families through appropriate record keeping that follows the research team’s policies and procedures; assists with gathering data relevant to program evaluation as appropriate. 
Participates in relevant research and staff meetings and assists as needed in any activities related to conducting the pediatric weight control research program. 
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.
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 evenings and weekends as required. 
If performing an assignment that requires driving must have a good driving record meet and maintain the appropriate and valid driver’s license in order to operate motor vehicles as required by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations in accordance with the Lifespan Fleet Risk Control Policy.

Other duties as assigned. 

QUALIFICATIONS – EXPERIENCE: 
High school diploma or equivalent required; associate’s or bachelor’s degree preferred.
Two (2) years of verifiable experience providing information education intervention and/or referral services to culturally diverse populations. Recent experience (last 5 years) working in a community organization preferred.
Community Health Worker certification in Rhode Island preferred. 
Experience with delivering health care interventions to children and families. 
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 following structured treatment protocol preferred.
Bilingual English/Spanish preferred.

How to Apply