Utilizing service learning in the development of community health worker trainings

Service learning is a method that incorporates community service within a classroom environment. Teaching strategies are designed to augment the overall experience of students and support community involvement. Students are encouraged to use constant reflection methods to monitor their thoughts and feelings concerning the process as it relates to community work. Through reflection, students increase their understanding of what is required for community-engaged work and for capacity building at the community level. Using a community health worker (CHW) training curriculum developed by the Center for Equal Health, a partnership between the University of South Florida, Moffitt Cancer Center, and the Tampa Bay community, graduate students utilized a service-learning approach to re-design, implement and evaluate a seven module CHW training curriculum. Twenty-five CHWs were recruited to participate in a series of trainings with the assistance of a local health ministry and an NAACP regional office. A total of four three-hour training sessions, with two modules per training, were conducted in community settings. CHWs learned about topics of importance including the role of CHWs, communication skills, how to work effectively in the community, basic facts about cancer, health disparities, and clinical trials. Graduate students conducted all of the trainings and incorporated feedback from the CHW evaluations into recommendations for future improvement of the CHW modules. Students kept reflection journals throughout the semester. Qualitative findings included students being made aware of their personal biases, appreciating the diversity that exists within communities, and understanding the need for trainings to include necessary participatory components.