Meet Kim - A Community Health Worker
/Community Health Worker Awareness Week is held every year from August 26th to 30th. We’re excited to keep highlighting eastern Washington community health workers all year long! Discover more about these incredible individuals who are making a real difference through their dedication, compassion, and relentless commitment to enhancing community health.
My name is Kim and I am a Community Health Worker.
How would you describe a community health worker?
What a community health worker means by definition is twofold. There is a standard definition of a community health worker from the American Public Health Association that has been used nationwide. But what a community health worker really means to me, and how I share it with others, is that they are the trusted messengers and members of the communities where they live, they work, they serve and they relate to. They can share similar cultures, similar languages, similar backgrounds, and they really are those go-to members of communities, not only in the United States, but around the world.
How important is the trust of a community health worker in the community they are serving in?
I've seen community health workers build trust where other entities, agencies, organizations, systems, have really tried to build trust in communities, and yet community health workers can go where white coats cannot.
What are some of the things that community health workers do for the people that they serve?
Community health workers, on a daily basis, help the community and community members through resource navigation, referrals, and, most importantly, active listening. So listening to the community member, because a lot of times the needs are in the conversation. They may come to you saying, I need transportation, but in talking with them, they may also need food. They may need social support, they may need other things. And so then it's not just identifying transportation, but it's creating wraparound support for that individual. It's caring for the whole person. Not just their physical health, but all.
What advice would you give to someone who was interested in pursuing a career as a community health worker?
Walk into it with an open mind. Be humble, be nonjudgmental, and learn. There are a lot of things to learn and a lot of things to share. Listen to your community. I think that's been a theme for any new community health worker I've heard and shared with people. Get out there in your community, have fun, and learn about its strengths. Don’t just focus on the deficits; also the strengths.