Community Health Worker Training is Free to Residents of Maryland

Community Health Workers are currently in need as this relatively new field is growing. Mission of Love Charities is teaming up with Heritage Care to offer a free class in Community Health Worker Training. The Training is taught remotely on Zoom by Aaron Sydor and consists of 168 hours of classroom time and 44 hours of a practicum. People who complete the class receive a certificate from the State of Maryland’s Department of Health and assistance with job placement.

“The need for community health workers is expanding faster than community health workers can be trained,” says Aaron Sydor, Director of Education Development at Heritage Care. The Community Health Worker’s job is to work directly with the community and help individuals and families get connected to healthcare and related resources. This improves the quality of life for community members. As a result of their work, Community Health Workers have a positive impact on the local community. “This is a newer field that’s starting to catch on,” says Sydor.

This partnership between Mission of Love Charities and Heritage Care on the Community Health Worker Training Program is an important, and timely one. “Our partnerships create outcomes. These outcomes produce jobs and new career opportunities. We are extremely pleased with this partnership with Heritage Care,” said Deborah Martinez, CEO for Mission of Life Charities.

The class teaches participants: how to provide informal health care related counseling, how to gain assistance accessing local health care resources, outreach and advocacy, community capacity building and identifying and improving social determinants of health. Some of the determinants of health may include: income level, access to healthy food and resources, jobs in the area, health care options available or access to transportation. These factors ultimately impact the health of community members and must be addressed.

There will also be guest speakers for the classes that help participants understand different related fields. Specialists in pre-natal care, geriatrics, and outreach and advocacy will speak directly on topics that affect the Community Health Worker.

A Community Health Worker will most likely be employed for a human services agency or a facility (such as an addiction therapy facility or a homeless shelter) that offers individuals assistance in some aspect of life or health. The Community Health Worker may be found doing a variety of tasks. These include: helping clients and customers gain access to healthcare resources, assisting people signing up for public assistance, accessing addiction services, educating people about diabetes prevention, teaching the basics about hypertension, performing client intake at a shelter or providing an initial interview before a client goes into any kind of treatment or facility. Informal counseling is part of the day-to-day duties of this job as well as many other tasks.

An important component of the Training is the 44-hour practicum. This offers the participant a chance to work in the field and get a grasp on the daily routines of this profession. At least 16 hours of the 44 are spent working In a long-term care facility, where there’s exposure to clients dealing with any number of chronic conditions such as: Alzheimer’s, diabetes, hypertension, schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. Class participants get to see the effects of chronic disease and learn how to address these problems head on. Being exposed to skilled nursing care facilities helps participants to understand the chronic disorders people face, and how to assist in lowering their impact on individuals’ lives by guiding them to receive direction and treatment.

Community Health Workers will most likely work for a non-profit, a community organization or a human services provider, not a long-term care facility. The remaining hours of the practicum will be spent working in this kind of setting.

Participants who complete the class will receive assistance in seeking jobs in the field. “We do help people who take the class get connected to employers with our job seeker services,” commented Sydor. Obtaining a certificate from the State of Maryland Department of Health shows employers expertise and training as a Community Health Worker. The Community Health Worker Training Program runs from September 20-December 19 Monday through Thursday from 6-10 p.m. There is no cost to participants. To register, email asydor@heritagecare.org or call 301-779-8653 ext. 3099.