Community Health Worker Network
For over two decades, we have hosted capacity-building workshops for CHWs, promotoras, and other asthma educators. Participation is open to anyone providing asthma education in diverse communities across California and beyond. Participants identify meeting topics, and we find experts for presentations and discussion, hosting 8-10 virtual meetings per year. To receive emails about upcoming workshops, please complete this form.
I so appreciate how you get great speakers to keep us informed…I left the training feeling empowered and more knowledgeable and that will be very helpful for my clients. Thank you again for all your assistance.
Our Upcoming Meetings
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RAMP CHW Meeting: Peer discussion groups; 12/11
To wrap up the year, we’ll have a session focused on peer discussion in small groups December 11th at 1pm. Participants will have an opportunity to share successes and discuss ways to overcome challenges. Contact Anne Kelsey Lamb at anne@rampasthma.org for more information.
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RAMP CHW Meeting: Addressing asthma disparities within (and out of) the health system; 12/5
Join us for the RAMP CHW Meeting focused on “Addressing asthma disparities within (and out of) the health system,” presented by Neeta Thakur, MD, pulmonary and critical care physician at UCSF. For more information, contact Anne Kelsey Lamb at anne@rampasthma.org
In addition to building capacity, as a core part of our Healthcare Equity goal, we advocate for policies and programs to integrate CHWs and promotoras into the healthcare system, focusing on Medi-Cal given the disproportionate impact of asthma on low-income communities.
Why CHWs and promotoras? They serve an essential role in asthma management. Robust evidence shows that CHWs and promotoras provide effective asthma self-management and environmental education, bridge the gap between patients and their providers, offer social services such as interpretation and referrals, and perform care navigation.
CHWs and promotoras are recognized as uniquely effective in delivering culturally competent home-based asthma interventions because they often have shared cultural backgrounds with participants. Even in cases where there is not a shared cultural background, effective asthma educators practice cultural humility, which is the process of bringing into check the power imbalances between the provider and the individual or family. The CHW/promotora approach to a culturally humble process involves asking questions to gain knowledge, achieving mutual respect, and moving toward shared goal-setting and decision-making.
Innovations in state approaches to Medi-Cal, as well as the leadership of some private payers, are creating more opportunities for CHWs, promotoras, and other non-licensed providers to be reimbursed for providing services in home and community settings.
To learn more, contact Anne Kelsey Lamb at anne@rampasthma.org/.
RAMP is an organization that has accompanied me in my journey as an asthma community health worker for more than two decades, and I am grateful for that.
