Training Specialist, Center for Community Health Workers

Posted by University of Pennsylvania on October 23, 2017

The mission of the Center is to improve health in low-income, high-risk populations through the effective use of Community Health Workers (CHWs). CHWs, hired from within local communities, provide social support, advocacy and navigation to these patients. Our Center has developed IMPaCT, a CHW model which has been scientifically proven to improve patients’ access to care, engagement with healthcare, and hospital readmissions. More than 6,000 patients have received IMPaCT support. We are a nationally-recognized CHW leader and have been featured in the New York Times, National Public Radio, and Forbes magazine. Our Center is part of the University of Pennsylvania Health System.

In addition to work in Philadelphia, our Center partners with healthcare organizations across the country to help them create, launch and sustain effective CHW programs, through our IMPaCT Communities Program. This is a growing area of our Center. We are looking for an energetic, passionate individual to play a key role in our Training and Development team. The Training Specialist will help train CHWs across the country and help our organization develop tools and products to scale our work. The position reports to the Assistant Director of Training and Development.

Key Duties and Responsibilities

Support dissemination of the IMPaCT model to other health systems, governments and community
organizations across the country. You will:
 Train new Community Health Workers and Managers to effectively perform their roles. Trainings are participatory and role-play based. Sessions include building trust with patients; coaching to set health goals; home visit safety; supporting patients to address medical and psychiatric emergencies; navigating health, behavioral health and social service systems; conflict resolution & de-escalation; and establishing professional boundaries and techniques.
 Organize conferences and other convenings for Communities Program members to come together for shared learning
 Develop Managers within the organizations of our Communities members by employing a trainthe-trainer model. Train and provide coaching to help them master facilitation of IMPaCT content, including CHW classroom training, On-the-Job training and professional development sessions,
 Administer the Center’s online learning system, currently hosted on the Articulate learning platform
 Assist in revising training to support refinements of the IMPaCT model and/or to develop new curriculum elements to support adaptation of IMPaCT to new populations (ex: pregnant mothers, children, formerly incarcerated people)
 Assist in evaluating and certifying IMPaCT programs run by Communities Program members
 Help design and build new products that will allow for scale of the IMPaCT model
 Manage delivery of trainings offered to health professionals
 Willingness to travel frequently (up to 60% of the year)

Skill and Experience Required:
 At least two years of experience developing and managing projects
 Experience facilitating trainings and/or meetings ; with experience designing trainings preferred
 Prior work history in case management, social work or human services preferred
 Passion for improving the lives of low-income individuals
 Ability to thrive in a complex and dynamic organization, where flexibility, risk-taking and entrepreneurial thinking are critical
 Excellent interpersonal and written and oral communications skills
 Bachelor’s degree

To Apply
Send a cover letter and resume to Chanel Ortiz at chanel.ortiz@uphs.upenn.edu with the subject line “Training Specialist Application.” Please label attachments as follows:
“LastnameFirstname_TScoverletter”
“LastnameFirstname_TSresume”