SC State’s new Community Health Worker Training Program
ORANGEBURG, S.C. – South Carolina State University’s new Community Health Workers (CHW) Training Program trained 42 people this spring and summer with a 100% pass rate for the state’s CHW Certification Exam.
The program focuses on recruiting, training, and enabling the next generation of minority CHWs to address health equity and disparity in rural communities along the Interstate-95 Corridor.
The first cohort training occurred during the Spring 2023 Semester, and the second cohort followed in Summer 2023.
These CHWs will contribute to diversifying the public health workforce, which is needed to effectively communicate health information to the target minority populations, especially Black people in rural South Carolina counties.
Utilizing CHWs who are trusted individuals and resemble the target population – those with the same race and background -- is beneficial and necessary to impact health equity.