Community Health Worker - Lead

Community Health Worker - Lead-(3302912)

Description

LEAD COMMUNITY HEALTH WORKER / FULL TIME / 40 HOURS / BOSTON

GENERAL SUMMARY

The Community Health Worker Lead (CHW-L) position requires the ability to be self-directing, outgoing, professional, organized, and goal oriented. The CHW-L will support, develop, and motivate CHW team and help grow the effectiveness of the CHW program in the Department of Psychiatry. This role also promotes patient advocacy, patient-centered approach, and identify internal and external cross-program opportunities and strategies.

A Community Health Worker (CHW) is a trusted member of the community who helps patients better access and coordinate their psychiatric care. We believe that CHWs have the skills and experience to understand what patients are going through and help them address the social and psychiatric barriers that lead to poor health. The goal of a community health worker is to assist the most high-risk patients with the tasks of getting psychiatric / medical care, working on health goals, and to help them deal with the “real-life” issues that keep them from staying healthy. Although a CHW role is not in a clinical position, it requires the capacity to learn basic clinical concepts in order to identify when a referral to a licensed clinician appropriate and how psychiatric teams work together to achieve best possible health outcomes.

The CHW-L will work with patients receiving care at Brigham and Women’s Hospital outpatient psychiatric clinic. CHWs are integrated into the outpatient psychiatric team, serving as a bridge between the team and patients in the community. As a CHW in our department, you will develop trusting working relationships with your patients and be supported by a psychiatric team that includes social workers, nurses and psychiatrists.

PRINCIPAL ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Provide community health work services for patients identified as high-risk due to psychiatric or psychosocial challenges including :

Community resource navigation to address social determinants of health

• Support community resource finding related to Social Determinants of Health needs, including housing, food, transportation, utilities, medication costs, elder care, childcare, job search, and education needs.
• Provide education and accompany patients to appointments when needed to provide support and advocacy.
• Meet patients in the community or conduct “porch” visits when and where appropriate to follow up on key aspects of the patient’s care to assess in-home barriers and engage patients in addressing barriers.
• Assist patients fill out applications for community services such as Medical Assistance, SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program), Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), Department of Mental Health (DMH).
• Provide advocacy, patient education, and support – including accompaniment – in accessing community-based and hospital-based programs.

Intensive case management and in-person support to enable patients to access appropriate care, services, benefits, and programs.

CHW Lead will spend approximately .50 FTE contributing to program development, team development and CHW support. This includes :

Qualifications

QUALIFICATIONS

SKILLS / ABILITIES / COMPETENCIES REQUIRED :

WORKING CONDITIONS :