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Empowering Community Health Workers and Promotoras through Community Engaged Research

Our free learning course equips Community Health Workers and Promotoras with the skills and knowledge to support research, making a positive impact on their communities.

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Nuestro curso también está disponible en español. Inscríbete aquí.

Why Should I  Take This Course?

Enhance my knowledge of community engaged research

Communicate with community members about what it means to be involved in research studies

Help bridge the gap between community members and researchers

Community Health Workers and Promotoras have an important role supporting research at community sites as they are increasingly becoming part of research teams. They provide valuable insights on issues important to communities where they work.

Our learning course provides training in best practices to promote high quality research in communities. In addition, the training is tailored to the research role of CHWs/Promotoras who work in culturally and linguistically diverse communities.

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Available courses in English and Spanish.

English
Spanish

Online Course

Learn at your own pace about practices to conduct high quality research in communities.
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Group Training

Learn with others about practices to conduct high quality research in communities or become a facilitator for a virtual or in-person group training.
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Curso en Linea

Aprende a tu propio ritmo sobre prácticas para realizar investigaciones de alta calidad en comunidades.
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Entrenamiento Grupal

Disponible de manera virtual o presencial y facilitado por un formador, aprende con otros sobre prácticas para realizar investigaciones de alta calidad en comunidades.
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What They Say

Read testimonials from Community Health Workers and Promotoras who have completed our course.

"I have taken a lot of classes on community engagement, and the importance of engaging community members in all aspects of research. This training did a great job teaching me how to incorporate this concept into the exact work that I am doing in my job. I feel equipped to engage appropriately with all community members."

Community Health Worker

Florida, Group Training

"I'm a new CHW, and this training enlightened me with a wealth of information and knowledge in being my personal best in the industry. Many questions that I had were addressed in the training sessions."

Registered Health Information Technician and Certified Community Health Worker

North Carolina, Online Course

"As a trainer of Community Health Workers in the Pittsburgh area (with many learning institutions), this training helped me understand the role of CHWs in research studies and perhaps identify a gap in our training program that can be filled with this course."

Certified Community Health Worker

Pennsylvania, Online Course

"I have learned how to handle certain situations with grace, sensitivity, and professionalism, and what not to say.  Dealing with community issues in our internet world of information (especially positive vs negative) is very difficult.  This training has given me a heads up on how to handle being part of a research study."

Certified Community Health Worker

Michigan, Group Training

"As a result of this training, I will increase community involvement in research and continue working to reduce health disparities in underserved populations, provide insights to researchers about realities faced by the communities, and will play an important role addressing fear, mistrust, and historically low participation of the vulnerable populations in public health and clinical research. "

Certified Community Health Worker

Florida, Group Training

"This was a GREAT training!! The format was easy to follow, and the video examples made it real as if you were listening to real people talk. I liked that it was done from a CHW perspective and not someone who has never done my job telling me how to do to my job."

CHES (Certified Health Education Specialist), Community Health Worker

North Carolina, Online Course

Questions

Find answers to common questions about this course.

Still have questions?

Feel free to reach out to us.

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What is included in the course?

The course has five modules: Research & Communities, Recruitment, Informed Consent, Privacy & Confidentiality, and Community Health and Well-Being. More details can be found here.

What is the difference between the online course, the virtual group course, and the in-person group course?

All 3 course options cover the same five modules.

  • The online course is a self-paced training that you complete at your own pace.
  • The virtual group course is taught by a facilitator on an online video conferencing platform like Zoom or Teams. The group course is scheduled in advance for specific date(s) and time(s). Participants sign on with their computers, smartphones, or tablets to participate.  It involves active participation and discussion throughout the training. Scheduling will be decided by the facilitator based on availability of the majority of participants.
  • The in-person group course meets at an onsite location provided by the facilitator prior to training. Scheduling will be decided by the facilitator.
How do I enroll?

You can enroll in the online course by clicking on the Enroll Now button anywhere on this website.

If you are interested in taking a group training, talk with your organization about providing that opportunity. See the FAQs for Facilitating a Group Training. Group training resources are available for download on this website.

Do I need to prepare for the course?

No, learners do not need to review any materials prior to taking the course.

How long is the course?

The length of the course is different depending on how it is taken.  

  • The online course is taken at your own pace so timing may vary. Most people complete it in about 2 hours.
  • The group training involves sharing experiences and discussion with a group of learners and takes about 4-5 hours to complete.
Can I get a certificate?

Everyone who completes the online course can download a personalized Certificate of Completion at the end. For the group training, facilitators will be able to send certificates to all participants who have completed the course.

Does it cost anything to take the course?

No, the course is free.

Are there Continuing Education (CE) credits for the course?

We do not offer Continuing Education (CE) credits at this time.

Can I reschedule or cancel if needed?

Rescheduling or canceling only applies to the group training since the online course is taken at your convenience. Ability to reschedule or cancel will be decided by the facilitator.

Can I sign up here to receive training with a facilitator?

Currently we do not offer scheduling for group training. We provide all the facilitator resources for groups and organizations to use themselves.

Has this course been evaluated?

Yes, both the online and group training courses have been evaluated. The online evaluation can be found at this link: Evaluation of an online research best practices training for community health workers and promotoras.

The group training evaluation manuscript is currently under review and has not yet been published.

Meet the Team Behind our Research Best Practices Course for Community Health Workers and Promotoras

Learn About Us