COVID-19 Community Health Workers Program

About the Program

Category: Civic Education and Public Information (Best in Category)

Year: 2021

The COVID-19 Community Health Worker Program (CHW) was developed to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) virus through education and outreach services, as well as, contact tracing assistance. CHWs provided education and outreach to Palm Beach County residents at a variety of locations throughout county, including but not limited to COVID-19 testing sites, food distribution sites, places of business, churches, and clinics. Educational sessions were provided one-on-one and in-group sessions. Educational materials and masks were widely distributed. The county’s zip codes were divided among the five non-profit, health and human service agencies, according the areas they typically serve to provide services to the community.The second component of the program was to assist the Florida Department of Health Palm Beach County by urging COVID-19 positive residents to have a contact-tracing interview. The Health Department referred the case to the CHWs, who then tried to contact the referred case by phone and at their place residence from September 18, 2020 through December 9, 2020. The overall CHW program was funded with federal CARES Act funding and thee contract term was July 1, 2020 through December 30, 2020.