TOPEKA – The Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) and the Mid-America Regional Council (MARC) are pleased to announce that the core curriculum training for Community Health Workers (CHWs) will be taught using Spanish material and facilitated in Spanish for the first time. All Spanish-speaking CHWs who wish to complete the CHW curriculum are encouraged to enroll in this unique course offering.
“It has been an incredible and rewarding experience to collaborate with a supportive team to translate and culturally adapt the CHW curriculum into Spanish, providing students with all supplemental curriculum material in Spanish. This will mark the inaugural of a cohort conducted entirely in Spanish, with all the training materials available in Spanish to enable students to actively participate in a Spanish-only environment,” Crystal Rodriquez, KDHE program manager for Community Health Workers said.
CHWs’ deep knowledge and understanding of the communities they serve enable them to make a significant impact. They strengthen individual and community capacity by increasing health knowledge and self-reliance through various activities, such as outreach, community education, informal counseling, social support and advocacy. The relationship between CHWs and their communities acts as a bridge, facilitating access to services and improving the quality and cultural competence in the delivery of services. Their work is invaluable and empowering.
The Spanish language course and material will remove the language barrier to allow CHW students, who wish to complete the training in an all-inclusive Spanish language only, to continue building individual and community capacity. We would like to offer a special thank you to the Kansas Community Health Worker Coalition (KSCHW) for their continued leadership and support Keila Sherman
of the CHW profession.
The newly created, 100hour Spanish CHW training program is a crucial step towards making health care more accessible and inclusive. The course is free for those who attend. Trainings will be held in person, on Saturdays, beginning Sept. 7 through Nov. 23, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Space is limited. For questions regarding the program and registration, contact CHWinfo@ marc.org.
