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What is Community HealthCorps?
Founded in 1995 by the National Association of Community Health Centers, Community HealthCorps is the largest health-focused, national AmeriCorps program that promotes health care for America’s underserved, while developing tomorrow’s health care workforce. The mission is to improve health care access and enhance workforce development through community health center sponsored AmeriCorps and related programs. The goals of Community HealthCorps are to:
- Increase access to and utilization of primary and preventive health care among at-risk and vulnerable populations in communities served by health centers.
- Encourage Community HealthCorps members, through experiential learning, to pursue further education and careers in community health.
- Create a culture of civic engagement and volunteerism in community health centers to augment and strengthen primary and preventive health care for the underserved.
- Foster collaborations and partnerships that ensure the continuity and sustainability of the Community HealthCorps and community health centers. HealthCorps program sponsors are community health centers or primary care associations that host one or more teams of HealthCorps members. Members generally enroll for a full year of service, and serve for up to two years. In the 2006-07 program year, more than 800 Community HealthCorps members serve through 41 partner organizations at an estimated 150 delivery sites across 19 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. HealthCorps Members Reflect and Work in Underserved Communities
Members serve rural and racially/culturally diverse urban communities and suburban, as well as migrant farm worker, homeless and public housing populations. Members are as racially, ethnically and economically diverse as the communities they serve. Educational attainment varies from high school and some college to graduate degrees. In addition, some members are active or retired health and social service professionals. No matter their background, members become part of a community’s struggle for better health and economic independence.
HealthCorps Members are Highly Trained
During pre-service orientation, weekly in-service trainings, and advanced workshops, members learn new skills and knowledge that enhance their effectiveness and value to patients. Training is conducted by health center, national program staff, and others with subject matter expertise. All members receive skill development using the program curriculum, Ten Core Competencies for Serving in Community Health Centers.
Curriculum components:
- Community Health Advocacy
- Case Management
- Cultural Competency
- Civic Engagement
- Emergency/Disaster Preparedness
- Health Education
- Health Outreach
- Patient Relations
- Professional Development
- Primary Care Environment
HealthCorps Members are known as “Agents of Change” in Clinical and Preventive Services
HealthCorps members provide a variety of health services/programs for patients and community, primarily through community health centers. Examples:
- Navigating the health care system;
- Establishing a “medical home” and improving utilization of health care;
- Individual and group health promotion/disease prevention education;
- Adopting “self-care” practices that lead to improved health status;
- Follow-up, case management, and support on treatment plans;
- Enrollment in public health insurance; and
- Assessing other patient needs (financial assistance, housing, legal & etc).
An Effective Model for Health Care Delivery
Referred to by many names, community health workers have various long-standing roles in the United States and worldwide, but all strive to positively impact the health and well-being of communities they serve. Research indicates that community health workers are particularly effective at:
- Increasing access to health services;
- Increasing knowledge about a variety of health issues;
- Facilitating behavior change; and
- Providing social support and culturally competent, cost-effective care for medically underserved populations.
During the first ten years of the program, over 2,500 HealthCorps members provided:
For more information about the Community HealthCorps program, visit us online at: http://www.nachc.com/community-healthcorps.cfm.
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