Patient & Community Education Specialist

Please Note: Incumbent for position in Independence should be fluent in Spanish

Job Summary: Works in community settings to gather data and/or deliver health promoting interventions following standardized protocols. Examples of data collection activities include conducting focus groups or interviews, gathering written surveys, extracting information from existing records, or direct observations. This position is a trusted member, and has a close understanding of, the ethnicity, language, socio-economic status, and life experiences of the community served. Assists people to gain access to needed services and builds individual, community and system capacity by increasing health knowledge and self-sufficiency through a range of activities such as outreach, patient navigation and follow-up, community health education and information, informal counseling, social support, advocacy, and participation in clinical research.

#LITW1

Demonstrates Competency in the Following Areas:

• Builds relationships among community members, community groups, providers and researchers
• Conduct needs assessments, develop patient plans, conduct and/or navigate patient to appropriate interventions designed to improve access to health care and/or health status
• Provide referral and linkage to follow-up services within the community and within the organization
• Following a defined protocol, conduct culturally appropriate skills building self-management education sessions on different topics for groups and individuals
• Teach basic concepts of health promotion, disease prevention, and self-management
• Identifies mutual goals and potential barriers to collecting data and/or delivering interventions in healthcare and community-based settings as well as health needs of persons in the community
• Communicates clearly about overall program goals and specific research or intervention tasks with community representatives, providers and researchers.
• Prepares materials and equipment (e.g., voice recorders) needed to gather data or deliver interventions according to protocols and predefined methodologies
• Administers surveys and conducts focus groups and/or interviews by telephone or in person and documents data collection activities and participant responses accurately and according to protocols
• Leads health education activities, workshops, and classes and reports to all stakeholders about progress on planned tasks and any challenges implementing protocols as written
• Communicates concerns or problems encountered in activities/workshops/classes to supervisor in a timely manner to protect the wellbeing of participants and integrity of programs being delivered
• Conducts skills training exercises in the community and coach consumers in self-care strategies and tasks for actively engaging in healthcare based on standardized protocols.
• Complete all necessary trainings and certifications necessary to assist individuals in the community as set forth by the appropriate agency.
• Reviews protocols and seeks feedback to ensure continued adherence to standardized protocolsOther related duties as assigned that support organizational goals and objectives and patient centered care.

Requirements:

• High school graduate or equivalent
• Less than 1 year of experience
• A current Certified Health Education Specialist (CHES) certificate is highly desirable
• Able to communicate in English, both verbally and in writing
• Additional languages preferred.