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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
Karen J. Pollack, MSW, Maternity Care Coalition, 2000 Hamilton Street, Suite 205, Philadelphia, PA 19130, 215-972-0700, kpollack@momobile.org
The advantage of hiring Community Health Workers (CHWs) to improve the lives of pregnant and parenting women and their children is their intimate knowledge of the community they are serving. The challenge is preparing these CHWs to provide the full range of services needed for home visiting for women and children. This presentation will review the development of a core competency training program at the Maternity Care Coalition (MCC), an organization with the mission of improving maternal and child health and wellbeing through the collaborative efforts of individuals, families, providers and communities. MCC's Core Competency Program serves as a tool to provide CHWs with introductory training so they may effectively do their jobs and also supports management in evaluating the CHW's skills. Both contribute to overall quality assurance. The presenter will discuss the steps taken to create the Core Competency Program including benchmarking of other MCH agencies, creating a representative committee, developing the core competency components, and implementing the plan. The voices of CHWs discussing the impact of this program on their introduction to Maternity Care Coalition will be heard as well. Finally, the benefits of implementing such a program and the challenges faced will be addressed.
Learning Objectives:
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.