This panel shows how a health coalition teamed up with a health system, government agency, and a university to turn community health work into a lifelong career pathway. By nesting formal apprenticeship and college-credit reviews into the model, they’ve created a ‘ladder’ that allows workers to advance their careers. This model transforms a temporary job into a professional career, using health literacy as a vital tool to improve patient care in healthcare settings like the emergency department.
Objectives:
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Model Replication Strategy: Identify the three essential stakeholders (community, labor, and university) and list at least two specific roles each plays in creating a sustainable CHW career ladder.
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Competency Integration: Define how to integrate health literacy as a formal job requirement, citing at least three ways this competency improves patient navigation and justifies long-term funding over temporary grants.
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Sustainability Action Planning: Identify at least two non-grant funding streams or policy levers (such as Medicaid reimbursement or Department of Labor apprenticeships) that can be used to transition temporary CHW roles into permanent, professional positions within their own local systems.