Community Health Worker (CHW Core)

This is currently a “By Permission Only” course.  A Course Approval Code is required to register and enroll.  

If you have not received a course approval code, please apply at CHW Training Application.   If your application is approved and you receive a Course Approval Code, please return to this page to complete registration.  If you have any questions about the application, please contact Idaho Bureau of Rural Health at ruralhealth@dhw.idaho.gov, (208) 334-0669. 

The course is designed to provide core competencies for Community Health Worker’s (CHWs). It includes key concepts of public health, outreach, advocacy, community and individual assessment, social determinants of health, health education, navigating insurance, stages of change, service coordination and more. 

Community health workers are a vital component of the state and national public health and health care workforce. "Community Health Worker" is an umbrella term for a number of different job titles, including community health advocates, outreach educators, peer leaders, promotores de salud, doulas, and patient navigators. For many decades, CHWs have made significant contributions to community-based health promotion, disease prevention and maternal child health support. They have also improved the rate of health insurance coverage for underserved communities and individuals. CHWs improve access to and increase utilization of primary health care, reduce costs of care, improve quality of care, and reduce health disparities.

For more information about this training curriculum, contact Suzanne Shemwell at Idaho State University-Meridian, shemsuza@isu.edu or call (208) 373-1764. 

Idaho State University, in collaboration with the Idaho Statewide Healthcare Innovation Plan (SHIP) project, is offering training for Idaho residents who are interested in becoming Community Health Workers utilizing the curriculum developed by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health Care Coordination Program.  Interested applicants are not required to apply and become students at ISU in order to take the training.

Statewide Healthcare Innovation Plan (SHIP) is supported by Funding Opportunity Number CMS-1G1-14-001 from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services.  Idaho Department of Health and Welfare