ECHO Community Health Worker Training Initiative

This brief documentary was created in a collaboration between Project ECHO of the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, UNM's public television station KNME and community clinics around the state of New Mexico. The movie explains the many roles of Community Health Workers (CHWs) and how they can be an effective and culturally/linguistically appropriate part of the chronic disease care team. Featuring diverse CHWs, Promotores from Hispanic communities and Community Health Representatives serving Tribal communities, the movie demonstrates the unique skillset provided by CHWs. CHWs are shown working within their clinics, organizations and communities, providing a powerful “force multiplier” for the medical providers on the team. The movie also highlights Project ECHO's innovative model of delivering healthcare to rural and underserved people throughout New Mexico by training primary care providers via distance technology and case-based learning, along with patient co-management. This model has successfully been replicated at the VA across the U.S., at various U.S. universities and in India. This award-winning model has now been applied effectively to the training of CHWs, Community Health Representatives, Promotores and Prison Peer Educators throughout NM. The film demonstrates the innovative ECHO model for training CHWs, who are shown engaged in both hands-on face to face skills training and in the interactive weekly video conferences. The combination of face-to-face and distance education methodologies create a rigorous, outcomes-driven and highly replicable training model with a “light footprint,” allowing it to be adapted to rural and underserved populations around the country and around the world.