How community health workers are changing local care

When care comes from someone you know, everything improves. Ohio State’s Community Health Worker Training Program is empowering neighbors to connect families to care, trust and healthier futures across Ohio. Watch this video (2 minutes, 22 seconds) to learn more.

Columbus resident Joyce Calamese put off scheduling a routine colonoscopy for more than a decade until an Ohio State-trained community health worker strongly encouraged her to make the appointment. That intervention likely saved her life, the 67-year-old says.

“They found a tumor, and because of the size, it was rated as stage 4 cancer, and my doctor recommended that we do a series of procedures,” Calamese says. “I was initially diagnosed on March 13, 2020 … I’m still here five years later.” 

She smiles toward Delores Richardson, her community health worker, who now works for Franklin County Public Health. Calamese also has diabetes and high blood pressure, both of which Richardson helps her keep under control.

The 14-week, hybrid Community Health Worker Training Program at Ohio State’s College of Nursing trains community health workers like Richardson to be advocates, educators and motivators in their neighborhoods—especially those with larger populations of lower-income residents, says Shaunta Stanford, clinical assistant professor of practice and senior director of community-engaged academic pathways. Upon completion of the required class and clinical hours, participants earn certification as a community health worker from the Ohio Board of Nursing. 

Ohio State recently graduated its 32nd cohort of the Community Health Worker Training Program, bringing the total number of graduates to nearly 650.

Richardson has a caseload of 30 clients, including Calamese, all of whom she has a personal connection with. They often meet at home, in libraries or other private locations to discuss a myriad of health and social issues.

“Seven or eight years ago, community health workers were not viable in our communities,” Richardson says. “Now, they’re used in many areas in our medical system, and we have been kind of planted in different communities to help those who are not able to help themselves … The conversations are about their health, how they met milestones like a colonoscopy or a mammogram, or things like getting insurance to pay for what they are supposed to pay for.”