Health Champions
What are Health Champions?
- Health Champions are community volunteers who help their friends and neighbors learn more about health in their community.
- Health Champions usually work in teams of two. *One of pair must have some kind of formal health background.
- Health Champions schedule and conduct health outreach in their communities.
- Health Champions follow a provided health outreach plan to conduct outreach.
*Health background may come from being a nurse, medical or health care social worker, physician, medical researcher, or health science instructor.
What is the COVID-19 Literacy outreach program?
COVID-19 Literacy is a Health Champions program to help community members achieve “COVID-19 literacy” by learning the “3 S’s” science, safety, and significance of COVID-19 vaccines.
- Science: How do vaccines work, especially the newer COVID-19 mRNA vaccines?
- Safety: How do scientists know COVID-19 vaccines are safe?
- Significance: How will COVID-19 vaccines help communities manage our future living with COVID-19?
Community members participate in COVID-19 Literacy outreach. They share in reading out loud and discussing a story called Take Your Best Shot.
COVID-19 Literacy is a non-judgmental and safe place to learn and ask questions. While the safety and benefits of the COVID-19 vaccine are discussed, community members are not pressured to get a vaccine.
What do Health Champions do in the Covid Literacy program?
- Schedule and invite people to COVID-19 Literacy Outreach.
- Conduct COVID-19 Literacy outreach following the COVID-19 Literacy Outreach Plan.
- Complete the COVID-19 Literacy Discussion Log after each session and submit to WE4H staff.
What are characteristics of Health Champions?
Are you?
- Passionate about health in community and COVID-19 vaccination?
- Fully vaccinated against COVID-19?
- Able to organize meetings and manage time?
- Able to listen to people’s COVID-19 vaccine fears and misconceptions with compassion and patience?
- Able to create an environment where everyone is comfortable sharing their ideas?
- Have time to work with a co-Health Champion to schedule and facilitate discussions?
- Able to connect with many people to invite to discussions?
What are the benefits of being a Health Champion?
- Get to know your neighbors even better.
- Gain skills to facilitate discussions.
- Contribute to your community’s knowledge of COVID-19 vaccines.
- Help your community members feel more comfortable considering getting COVID-19 vaccines.
- Receive personal incentives for your effort.
How do I become a Health Champion?
To become a Health Champion, you will complete a 2-hour training and demonstrate a basic knowledge of how COVID-19 vaccines work and their importance for individuals and communities in a post-training quiz. You will receive $30 for attending.
If you’d like to become a Health Champion, submit the contact form below, and we will notify you about the next training opportunity. Both online and in-person training is available.
Stories used by Health Champions in outreach
The Vaccine Victory and Take Your Best Shot stories are used by Health Champions to start the discussion about vaccines in general or the COVID-19 vaccines specifically. The COVID Graphic FAQs provide a shorter format for quicker sharing of COVID-19 content.
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