A-B Tech Offers Certified Community Health Worker Classes
A-B Tech will start its next set of classes for Community Health Workers as part of the North Carolina Initiative.
The college is one of 13 in the state offering the certification. Three types of classes will be offered to fit student lifestyles.
Classes provide each student with the required knowledge, tools, and resources to become recognized as a certified Community Health Worker (CHW) in the state.
A CHW is a frontline public health worker who is a trusted member of, and has an unusually close understanding of, the community served. This trusting relationship enables the worker to serve as a liaison, link, or intermediary between that community and health and social services offered, so as to facilitate access to services and improve the quality and cultural competence of service delivery.
A community health worker also builds 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.
“The Community Health Worker certification has been an important program for us in meeting the needs of the Asheville community,” said Deborah Wright, Vice President, Economic and Workforce Development and Continuing Education. “With the diversity of populations that are served by CHW’s, the need is great. Most recently we were able to announce our dual-language certification program taught in Spanish and English, which will really help train the workers in our Latino community.”
The English/Spanish course is for individuals who desire, or plan to, service a Spanish-speaking population. The course is taught by a bilingual Spanish/English instructor, with the primary presentation of class material delivered in Spanish. Interpretation will be provided by the instructor as needed. Outside reading material and assignments may be in Spanish or English. The class will meet via Zoom starting January 18, 2023.
A virtual class will meet via Zoom once a week, with additional online assignments and self-paced weekly work starting January 26, 2023. A hybrid class, with in-person classroom meeting one day a week, will begin February 4, 2023.
Financial assistance is available. Register online at [email protected] or call (828) 398-7903. For more information, email [email protected].
