I have been a CHW Instructor since 2017 and will be finishing my 20th cohort December 2024.  My classes are a combination of seated and remote students who join synchronously via Teams for class discussion. The majority of my CHW students work in FQHCs (Federally Qualified Health Centers) or public health departments. Their client base will be those individuals who live in underserved, rural areas lacking good, basic health care. Many rural clinics still require 30 minutes travel time.  Lack of community resources such as housing, transportation, and healthy food resources presents problems for those living in those communities. I, too, live in a rural area and see the struggles of the underserved. Building relationships creates trust which promotes positive outcomes for the CHW and their clients.  CHWs function as a bridge to offer support, compassion, and empathy to their clients. The relationship built between CHWs, and their clients, is one that will encourage their clients to become self-sufficient for their healthcare and healthier outcomes.. The conference allows me the privilege to meet many of my remote students face to face and cement that relationship we initiated during class.  These students are not just my students, they become colleagues and allies for me in my instructor role.

As a CHW instructor, I have a responsibility to continue to increase my knowledge base.  The conference will provide a variety of presentations that will give me the opportunity to enhance my learning experience with new evidence-based practices which I will add to my curriculum.  Presentations will be client centered. Those presentations give CHW new strategies to implement in their job role.  Networking with more experienced CHWs and allies is a crucial factor in my attendance.  It is important to keep lines of communication open so I can interact with the experts in their field to improve my quality of material for class. 

I will be co-presenting at this year’s conference. The title of our presentation is “Being Square In a World of Circles.” This presentation will focus on those clients who have hidden disabilities, specifically the Autism Spectrum and co-related conditions.  This presentation aligns with the theme of the conference.