HPAC Scholar's Day 2019 CHW_Assessment_Key_Findings | Page 30

The three additional phase II focus groups
comprised of primarily non-certified CHWs
reinforce the findings from the phase I focus
groups of certified CHWs as well as the
findings from the statewide CHW survey. As
with previous findings, it is clear that CHWs,
both certified and non-certified, experience
many commonalities in terms of the types
of populations and settings served, the wide
variety in job responsibilities, desire to be
recognized and respected by other health
professionals, and the value placed on
training and continuing education for self-
improvement to provide better outcomes
for their clients. Furthermore, these findings
reinforce that CHWs want strong advocacy for
their profession and increased connectivity
throughout the state but organizational
barriers currently exist. Also as noted
continually throughout the assessment, it
is clear there is a need for employers and
healthcare professionals to be educated on
the role of the CHW as well as for some of the
barriers to certification to be addressed.
What was surprising from these focus
groups made up of primarily non-certified
CHWs was that all participants agreed that
certification was valuable for the profession
despite barriers to obtaining certification.
Even more surprising was to learn that one
participant would be willing to overcome
barriers to certification if certification was
made mandatory to practice as a CHW in
Ohio. Perhaps if a tiered level of certification
existed in Ohio more CHWs would have
access to certification and be incentivized to
overcome barriers in order to achieve a core
set of educational standards and become a
more cohesive profession.
Finally, participants agreed that the
priority recommended next steps for the
CHW in profession in Ohio needs to be to
educate employers/supervisors and other
healthcare professionals on the role of the
CHW and to improve education and training
opportunities for CHWs in Ohio.
Focus Groups
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