Hello! Thank you for your interest in the Morehouse School of medicine High School Community Health Workers Training Program.

According to the American Public Health Association, Community Health Workers are frontline public health workers who are trusted members of and/or have an unusually close understanding of the community served. This trusting relationship enables CHWs to serve as a liaison, link or intermediary between health/social services and the community to facilitate access to services and improve the quality and cultural competence of service delivery. CHWs also build 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.  

During the summers of 2016 and 2017, MSM, with the support of the Atlanta Regional Collaborative for Healthcare Improvement (ARCHI), piloted an innovative high school community health worker (HSCHW) training program. The thought was that these students could provide vital health information to the underserved community and school population. During the pilot, MSM trained 32 high school students from six Metro Atlanta high schools (Banneker, Tri-Cities, Mays, McClarin, Washington, KIPP Collegiate). Students were ages 15–18, rising sophomores through recent graduates. The pilot program has achieved great preliminary outcomes, and the program model is highly sought after by universities and community-based organizations. This is the 1st High School Community Health Worker training program in the country to be implemented.

MSM has trained Community Health Workers/promotores/lay navigators for more than 10 years. The initial MSM training curriculum was developed in collaboration with the American Cancer Society/Southeast region and the Georgia Department of Public Health. To date, MSM has trained more than 350 CHWs to work in a variety of settings (community, clinics, academia, etc.) and in many healthcare areas, e.g., diabetes, cancer control, reducing Emergency Room visits from “frequent flyers”, and increasing the number of children and adults with insurance.

The Objectives of the HS training program are to:
• Increase the number of trained student community health workers to assist with community health programs in underserved communities
• Provide a health careers pipeline program and mentorship for underserved students
• Support & Promote the community Health worker field
• Promote health education and health literacy in schools and community
• Assist trained HS CHWs with the design and implementation of school-based and community-based health initiatives
• Provide health monitoring and health literacy activities to students’ family members and community members

The MSM HSCHW training is 161 hours total: 2.5 weeks (91 hours) of classroom instruction with core competencies/skills, followed by 2 weeks (70 hours) of field instruction (summer intensive) and additional hours of continuing education (school year). The summer intensive training is held every weekday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. during July and early August. During the school year (August–May), students meet monthly via webinar and quarterly in person to receive educational booster sessions, discuss family/community monitoring activities, and work on the implementation of their community project.

MSM has developed an interactive online training curriculum to support the MSM Urban, National and International HS CHW training program. Please complete the following interest form to schedule  a meeting to discuss the program and a demo of the online curriculum.