Public health scholarship program - the community health worker emergency response and preparedness (CHW-ERP) project will strengthen and diversify the public health workforce to better meet the needs…

Public health scholarship program - the community health worker emergency response and preparedness (CHW-ERP) project will strengthen and diversify the public health workforce to better meet the needs of underserved communities in the minneapolis - ST. Paul metropolitan area by 1) engaging community/employer partners to build community health worker certificate and baccalaureate program recruitment, training, and job placement pipelines; 2) educating trainees to address social determinants of health in culturally and linguistically appropriate and accessible ways; and 3) preparing trainees to respond to covid-19 and other public health emergencies through curriculum, practicum, and simulation experiences. Led by ST. Catherine university's (ST. Kate's) director of public health programs, the project will result in 4-5 pipeline partnership mous; an integrated community health worker and emergency response curriculum with corresponding practicum experiences available through 14 different sites; the development and implementation of an emergency response simulation exercises; within a culturally and linguistically validated curriculum. The project will recruit 118 CHW trainees, who will receive career development and wrap-around supports at ST. Kate's; at least 70% of program graduates will join the public health workforce in targeted underserved communities. Specifically, in year 1, 48 trainees will receive scholarships; 40 will in year 2; and 30 will in year 3. Many of the students who attend ST. Kate's community health worker (CHW) certificate program and its public health baccalaureate programs hail from these communities in minneapolis and ST. Paul, and as a result, the university meets the criteria for serving individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds: in academic year 2020-2021, 40% of public health students were educationally/environmentally disadvantaged; 27% (of those for whom there is financial data) were economically disadvantaged; and 25% were underreprese nted racial and ethnic minorities (a figure that rises to 50% if hmong and other disadvantaged southeast asian groups were included). Further, significant numbers of public health students go on to work in underserved communities once they graduate. As such, ST. Kate's qualifies for the two funding preferences associated with this program: 1) serving individuals who are from disadvantaged backgrounds, including underrepresented racial and ethnic minorities, and 2) graduating large proportions of individuals who serve in underserved communities.