A Community Health Worker (CHW) or “promotora” is a trusted member of the community who has a uniquely close understanding of the community served. This relationship enables community health workers to serve as a bridge between health and social services and the community to facilitate access to services and improve the quality and cultural competence of service delivery. Community Health Workers are an essential workforce contributing to the health and wellbeing of individuals and communities.
El Buen Samaritano has played a key role in the strengthening and sustainability of the Community Health Worker workforce in Austin, Travis County since 2012.
Services Provided
El Buen hosts the only bilingual certified Community Health Worker Training Center in Central Texas, which provides comprehensive bilingual certification for community health workers. Certified in 2012 by the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS), El Buen has certified over fifty-five CHW’s through our training program, and over 125 CHW’s have received bilingual continuing education units or CEUs. The individuals that participate in our program have competencies not only in skill, but also in cultural relevance that can be translated throughout the State of Texas and beyond.
How to Access Services
Due to the current COVID-19 pandemic, El Buen offers our CHW training program online only. They will be led by Juan Rosa, Certified CHW Instructor. Juan has coordinated community outreach programs at El Buen for 12 years and has been a certified instructor since 2016. This semester will be available in Spanish Only.
- Certification Training: It has been and continues to be our commitment and philosophy that those interested in this training should not be excluded because of their socioeconomic realities. It is for this reason that we continue to provide our 160-hour certification training at a subsidized rate of $450, while the total cost to train each CHW remains at $750.
- Continuing Education Training: This fall, El Buen Samaritano’s Community Health Worker Training and Leadership Center will host its first Fall CHW training series. The series will be hosted virtually and open to all whom are interested. CHW and other Continuing Education Credits, such as those for social workers will be available for many of the trainings, as noted.* The training sessions will be offered beginning October 6, 2020 to Decembers 17, 2020 They will be held from 9AM – 12PM, unless otherwise noted. To register for these training please contact Amanda Doenges, Associate Director of Health Literacy by email at adoenges@elbuen.org.
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Where
Virtual Classes
Registration
Subsidized Registration Fee is $450
CLICK HERE to Register for our CHW Training
Additional services provided by El Buen’s CHW training center include:
- collaboration on research related to CHW
- specialized training packages for organizations working with CHWs
- consulting on CHW program planning and implementation.
- Dates and times
- Curriculum details
- Opportunities
- Hospital savings