Job Summary
The Community Health Worker will serve as an integral member of Harris Health's interdisciplinary care team, partnering to help patients improve their health holistically. The CHW will work directly with patients to assess needs across all aspects of their lives, including economic and social challenges alongside their physical and mental health needs. The information gathered will support the development of a team-based action plan, and the ongoing work with the patient will include establishing the patient's priorities and working together on goals. The CHW will be the point person for a panel of patients, available and accessible to provide assistance.They will work alongside, and will be supported by, a care team associated with each patient in order to help improve patients' total health.
Food Farmacy Locations
Harris Health System: El Franco Lee, Gulfgate, MLK, Settegast, Strawberry Health Center, Acres Homes, and Lyndon B. Johnson. Primary sites but flexible to support all listed locations / sites.
M-F 8am - 5pm
Possibly some weekends and weeknights
Program Description:
The purpose of the Food Farmacy is to serve as an integral part of a one-stop health hub that provides access to healthy foods for individuals screening positive for food insecurity, in-depth disease management education, and referrals to Clinical Case Management for assistance with other community resources at no additional cost, along with excellent healthcare. Many chronic diseases have a dietary component, but patients don’t always have the ability to follow dietary recommendations if they do not have access to healthy food. By partnering with Houston Food Bank and providing on-site food farmacies, we are able to provide immediate food assistance for patients in need.
The overall goal for the CHW at the Food Farmacy is to serve patients with chronic illness and food insecurity alongside a team of registered dietitians and nurse patient educators. Under Houston Food Bank’s Food for Change program, there are two different sub-programs. The first is FIRST Link, which focuses on providing food to individuals who are food insecure. The second program is Food Rx, which focuses on providing food to individuals who are both food insecure and also have an underlying chronic illness. Under the Food Rx program, partnering sites are able to decide what type of chronic illness they want to target.
You’d be a good fit if:
* You have experience with patient navigation, management, or any kind of direct service provision.
* You have a passion for working within the community you are a part of, or have been a part of in the past.
* You excel at empathy and human interactions, and want to improve the health of individuals and whole communities.
* You are an independent self-starter and a strategic thinker who is eager to learn, improve, and grow.
* You are comfortable with lifting/able to lift up to 50 lbs
* You are a team player.
Nice to have:
* Experience working with educating individuals on healthy living practice for patients with diabetes and/or chronic disease.
* Training in motivational interviewing, behavioral activation therapy, or problem solving treatment.
* Multilingual
Minimum Qualifications
School Education: High School Diploma or GED
Licenses & Certifications: Texas DSHS CHW Certification required within 1 year of employment
Work Experience: Three (3) Years Work Experience with patient navigation, care management, or any kind of direct service provision to patients in a community health/outreach, social resource agencies and/or health care setting
Language Skills:
Bilingual Skills (preferred): Spanish/English; English/Vietnamese
Communication Skills: Above Average Verbal (Heavy Public Contact) ,Writing/Correspondence
Proficiencies: Personal Computer
Job Attributes
Knowledge/Skills/Abilities: Analytical Abilities, Electronic Medical Record - Average skills achieved upon training
Work Schedule: Flexible, Travel, Weekends, Eligible for Telecommute
Other Requirements:
a. The CHW must have access to reliable transportation to travel to worksites throughout Harris County.
b. Have a passion for working within the community they are a part of, or have been a part of in the past.
c. Want to improve the health of patients and communities.
d. Is a self-starter and a thinker who is eager to learn, improve, and grow.