OPHTC CHW Program

2023-2025 OPHTC Conference and Continued Education Fund for CHWs in Oklahoma

The Oklahoma Public Health Training Center (OPHTC) is pleased to announce a new mechanism to support Community Health Workers (CHWs) in Oklahoma. Thanks to a generous, anonymous gift made to The University of Oklahoma Foundation, Inc., the OPHTC CHW Program within the Hudson College of Public Health will support CHWs through scholarships to provide continuing education for conferences and other educational opportunities. Scholarship amounts are fixed at $500 per recipient for in-state, and $1,500 per recipient for national conferences and other educational opportunities. Stipends will be provided upon completion of the educational opportunity and submission of deliverables. Applications can be submitted on a rolling basis. The number of scholarships to be awarded over two years depends on the type of successful applications (in-state or national).

Applications for 2023-2024 scholarships are currently accepted. Application and scholarship guidelines are available here: Call for Applications

Sharing Conference Experiences

TAKE AWAYS FROM APHA CONFERENCE 2023 - By Randa Cooper-Real, RN/CHW (Rural Health Projects, Inc.; Enid, OK)

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The Oklahoma Community Health Worker (CHW) Coalition

The OK CHW Coalition was first funded by the OSCTR Community Engaged Research Exploratory (CERE) Awards, October 2021-June 2023. The coalition's goal is to develop a statewide, sustainable CHW infrastructure in Oklahoma by (1) establishing and convening a statewide coalition of diverse stakeholders, and (2) developing a strategic plan, the Oklahoma State Plan for a Sustainable CHW Infrastructure.

This Coalition is a Community of Interest, i.e. a community that is broad, non-place based, and that is "a multidimensional/dynamic whole, or system, of which we are a part" (Minkler 2012:80). The community members are CHWs, or engage with community health workers (CHWs) through their work and interests. The Oklahoma CHW Coalition members

Work on projects, funded or not, that focus on or utilize CHWs;
Currently are hiring new CHWs (mostly with a focus on addressing COVID-19);
Are interested in collaborating as organizations with CHWs;
Collaborate with community partners through CHWs;
Document outcomes (including social determinants of health and health equity) and Return on Investment (ROI) of CHW programs to show their value;
Are interested in building a sustainable CHW workforce in Oklahoma through CHW participation, training, certification, strategic placement (hotspots), and reimbursement;
Value CHW engagement and leadership; and
Invite additional stakeholders to the table.

The OK CHW Coalition Vision and Mission were developed in February 2022:

Vision: CHWs as trusted advocates for equitable, healthy communities

Mission: Our Coalition's mission is to build a sustainable CHW infrastructure to empower Oklahomans to receive equitable health and social services to achieve their optimal state of health and well-being.