Abstract:

The University of South Alabama’s Coastal Resource and Resiliency Center (CRRC) hosted a Community Health Worker (CHW)/Supervisor Evaluation Retreat on August 20-22, 2017 at the Mobile Marriott hotel in Mobile, Alabama. The primary purpose of the retreat was to gather data on CHWs' training and post training experiences, as well as their involvement in community resilience-building activities and their perspectives on the potential for CHWs to serve as members of emergency preparedness and disaster response teams. The CRRC developed multiple evaluation instruments for the retreat including, CHW and supervisor surveys, focus groups, and guided discussions. The CHW survey instrument primarily focused on CHWs' roles and responsibilities, effectiveness of their training in fulfilling the roles of CHW, and CHWs' obstacles and contributions to building community resilience. The CHW/Supervisor survey instrument gathered data on the utility and value of the CHW within their organization and recommendations for additional training topics for CHWs. The focus groups were designed to identify communities served, assess levels of community resilience, list critical healthcare needs, provide examples of resilience-building activities, explore other approaches to building resilience and the potential involvement of CHWs, and prioritize next steps for building community disaster resilience. The guided discussions were organized to collect additional feedback from CHWs and supervisors regarding training and field experiences, and the utility of CHWs increasing healthcare capacity and enhancing community resilience.

Suggested Citation:

J. Steven Picou, Ph.D; Keith Nicholls, Ph.D; Selena C. McCord, MPH; Bria Means, BA. 2017. 2017 Community Health Worker Evaluation Retreat. Distributed by: GRIIDC, Harte Research Institute, Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi. doi:10.7266/N7WW7G4P

Purpose:

To gather and evaluate data on CHWs' training and post training experiences, as well as their involvement in community resilience-building activities and their perspectives on the potential for CHWs to serve as members of emergency preparedness and disaster response teams.

Data Parameters and Units:

Objective Evaluation Form for CHWs-Anonymized.csv: Community Health Worker Type of Funding LABEL (1 or 2), Understanding CHW Roles Responsibilities (1 or 2), Basic Training CHWs (1 or 2), CDM Training Value (1-6), Resilience Training Value (1-6), Public Health Determinants of Health (1-5), Mental Behavioral Health(1-5), Health Disparitites (1 or 2), Cultural competency (1-9), Community advocacy (1-3), Peer Listening (1 or 2), Environmental Health (1-5), Health Interventions (1-5), Motivational Interviewing (1-5), Vital Signs (1-5), Disaster Prep (1-5), Managing Chronic Disease (1-5), Community Resilience (1-9), First Aid (1-3), CPR (1-3), Training experiences likes, Training experiences dislikes, Additional training, Training experiences prepare CHW (1 or 2), CHW expectations (1-3), Organization understand CHW roles (1-3), Utilization of CHWs (1-3), CHW effectiveness (1 or 2), Job satisfaction (1 or 2), Continue working as CHW (1-5), Medical Forms (0 or 1), Educate patients (0 or 1), Attend appointments (0 or 1), Referrals (0 or 1), Follow ups (0 or 1), Take vital signs (0 or 1), Counseling (0 or 1), ACA (0 or 1), Peer Listening Informal Counseling (0 or 1), Health screenings (0 or 1), Translation services (0 or 1), Client transportation (0 or 1), Case mgt (0 or 1), Health fairs (0 or 1), Health info communityevents (1), Health info schools (0 or 1), Promo disaster prep (0 or 1), Collab other agencies (0 or 1), Peer education mentoring (0 or 1), Activities (0 or 1), General office work (0 or 1), Fundraising (0 or 1), Grant writing (0 or 1), Other job duties (0 or 1), Other job duties comments, Unexpected responsibilities, Level of resilience (1-3), Primary characteristics contribute, Primary characteristics reduce, CHW contribution to resilience, Obstacles Resources (1-3), Obstacles Time (1-4), Obstacles Leadership (1-3), Obstacles Community Understanding (1-3), Obstacles Community Interest(1-4), Obstacles Other, CHW ResponseandRecoveryTeams (1 or 2), CHW interest responseandrecoveryteams (1-3), Employment status (1 or 2), Occupation (1 or 2), Occupation other, Job Healthcare related (1-9), Residence demographic (1-5), Employment location (1-5), Race (1-5), Race Other, Sex (0 or 1), Employment Date (MM-DD), Funding source (1-3), Funding source other, Work schedule (hrs/wk), Additional training received, Client interactions (avg/wk), Clinical setting (%), Office setting (%), Community setting (%), Other setting (%), Other setting percentage comments, Client demographics White (%), Client demographics AfricanAmerican (%), Client demographics Hispanic (%), Client demographics Asian (%), Client demographics Other (%), CHW salary ($/hr, $ bi-weekly, or $/month), CHW job benefits (1 or 2), CHW job benefits list, CHW Organization Evaluation, Training experiences dislike new (1-12), Other job duties comments new (1-4), Race other new (1), Other setting percentage new (1 or 2) CHW Evaluation Form for Supervisors-Anonymized.csv: How many Community Health Workers Supervised (number), Medical Forms (0 or 1), Educating healthcare issues (1), Attending appointments (0 or 1), Patient referrals (0 or 1), Follow Up referrals (0 or 1), Vital signs (0 or 1), General counseling (0 or 1), Assist Affordable Care Act (0 or 1), Peer listening (0 or 1), Health screenings (0 or 1), Translation services (0 or 1), Transportation (0 or 1), Case management (0 or 1), Health fairs (1), Community events (1), Schools (0 or 1), Disaster Preparedness (1), Collab Agencies (1), Peer Education (0 or 1), Community resilience (0 or 1), Clerical work (0 or 1), Fundraising (0), Grant writing (0 or 1), Other (0 or 1), Other comments, How would you rate the value of CHWs (1), Public health (1), Determinants Health (1), Mental Behavioral Health (1), Health Disparities (1 or 2), Cultural Competency (1 or 2), Community Advocacy (1-3), Peer Listening (1), Environmental Health (1 or 2), Health Interventions (1), Motivational interviewing (1 or 2), Taking Vital signs (1-4), Disaster Preparedness (1), Chronic Disease (1), Community Resilience (1), First Aid (1 or 2), CPR (1 or 2), How would you rate the basic training (1 or 2), How would you rate the advanced training (1 or 2), How would you rate Building Resilience training (1-6), Additional training_topics helpful for CHWs, Additional training topics CHWs receive, Initial expectations utility of CHWs (1 or 2), Initial expectations utility of CHWs comments, Roles and responsibilities of CHWs (1-3), Utilize CHW services (1 or 2), Rate performance of CHWs (1 or 2), Community level of resilience (1-3), Major obstacles to improve resilience (1-4), CHWs role in emergency management (1 or 2), Level of interest (1 or 2), Describe organization (1-4), Describe organization Other comment, Organization locations (number), Organization headquarters (1-6), Number of CHWs at your organization (number), CHW job benefits (1), CHW job list benefits, Funding for CHWs (1-4), Funding for CHWs other, Employing CHWs after project funding ends (1), Likely to keep CHWs after project funding ends (1-3), Hourly rate of CHW ($/hr), Employment status (1), Job title, Years Worked (years), Race (1-5), Race other, Sex (0 or 1), Other comments New (1 or 2), Additional training topics helpful for CHWs new (1 or 2), Initial expectations utility of CHWs comments New (1-7), Major obstacles to improve resilience F other New (1-4), Describe organization other comment new (1 or 2), Funding for CHWs other New (1), Hourly rate of CHW new (1-6), Race new (1 or 2) 2017_CHW Survey Codebook.txt: describes all questions and response codes for CHW Evaluation Form for Supervisors-Anonymized.csv file and Objective Evaluation Form for CHWs-Anonymized.csv file. 2017_CHW Supervisor Survey Codebook.txt: describes all questions and response codes for CHW Evaluation Form for Supervisors-Anonymized.csv file only. Remaining txt files: anonymized transcripts from the Community Health Worker (CHW)/Supervisor Evaluation Retreat

Methods:

Participants voluntarily completed surveys, and engaged in focus group interviews and guided discussions.

Instruments:

IRB-approved Community Health Worker Survey, Community Health Worker Supervisor Survey, Focus Group Guides, and Structured Discussion Guides

Individual Files: