Evaluation of a community health worker certification program and participants' self-assessed preparedness

Community Health Workers (CHWs) play a crucial role in enhancing patient care. Many CHW roles overlap with the expanded roles of pharmacy technicians, who often share the patients' cultural and linguistic backgrounds. To leverage this alignment, the CHW certificate program was launched.

To evaluate the CHW program on knowledge gains and self-assessed preparedness.

The CHW program comprises 2 online modules, covering foundational health knowledge, communication skills, patient outreach and advocacy, and care coordination. The in-person session focuses on demonstrating key skills from online modules. This curriculum meets state and national CHW certificate standards.

The CHW program builds on participants' clinical experience while emphasizing medication and chronic disease management and motivational interviewing. It also supports pharmacies in leveraging Medi-Cal reimbursement to sustainably integrate CHWs into practice.

The study analyzed pre- and post-assessment scores and post-program survey data. The descriptive analysis was used for both categorical and continuous variables. The Wilcoxon signed-rank, Chi-square, Fisher's exact, and Mixed Model for Repeated Measures analyses were used to test for association.

There was a significant increase in assessment scores from pre to post in online modules (P < 0.0001), with pharmacy technicians and the nonpharmacy workforce showing the greatest improvement (P < 0.0001). The post-program survey revealed that patient engagement and communication, outreach, and service coordination were the most frequently used CHW skills (81.8%) at workplaces. It also indicated that the program improved participants' knowledge (84.8%) and confidence (57.6%) and enhanced their daily CHW work (84.8%).

The CHW program enhanced participants' knowledge, skills, and demonstrated applicability to real-world practice. This program supported professional growth and highlighted the potential progression for pharmacy technicians' advancement.