It's a Wrap!
After months of planning, the IPHA 4th Annual Community Health Worker (CHW) Summit was held on Thursday, August 22 and Friday, August 23 at the Abraham Lincoln Hotel in Springfield, Illinois. With more than 200 attendees, it was a busy two days!
This year, the Summit included an array of Pre-Summit Workshops with more than 30 attendees. The workshop topics included: Mental Health First Aid, CHW Chronic Kidney Disease Navigation Training, Everything You Wanted to Know About Successful CHW Integration, Exploring Trauma-Informed Practices in CHW Supervision, and Tips for Teaching and Training CHWs Across the Life Span. A big thank you to those who served as the workshop leaders.
Day One of the Summit opened with a keynote by Dr. Jerry Kruse of Southern Illinois School of Medicine and Chris Richmond of the Pillsbury Project. The two-part story of the transformation of this blighted Springfield neighborhood was impactful and moving.
The CHW Summit was intentionally designed to allow time for CHWs to network. Because attendees were not only from Illinois—some were from other locations such as Washington DC and Georgia—the conversations and connections were priceless. During the two-day Summit, there were four rounds of breakout sessions with more than 60 presenters providing 22 learning opportunities for attendees. Each day’s breakout sessions were designed to provide insights into topics which were of interest to CHWs. Many of these presentations included CHWs sharing about their lived experience. We were also happy to host two “hands on” educational opportunities this year. Those were provided by: Narcan Training by Springfield Urban League and Hand Only CPR provided by Medics First.
The second day of the Summit began with Trauma-Informed Yoga and moved into Part Two of the keynote presentation on the Pillsbury Project. During this part of the presentation, CHWs were incorporated into the discussion to share the work they are doing in the neighborhood surrounding the Pillsbury site, for example, TapRoot, a community garden initiative. The stories shared by the CHWs showed how effective and vital they are to the health of our communities.
Although the days of learning were long, they were fulfilling, attendees also participated in three exciting after-hour events: Karaoke, a Pillsbury Plant Tour, and Lincoln’s Ghost Walk Tour gave participants a chance to relax, unwind, and form relationships. More than 75 attendees participated in those three events!
This year, for the first time at the Summit, attendees could participate in poster presentations. Thirteen posters were presented. Many were led by individual CHWs, some who had never had the experience of leading a poster session before. It was exciting to see those individuals growing in their careers. Attendees were able to vote for three People’s Choice Award posters. The poster award winners were:
CHWs Rising to End Gender Based Violence by Radhika Sharma and Eva Mwariri
Vaping Cessation Attempts Among Midwestern Undergraduates and Implications for Interventions by Hend Jadalla
CHW Integration in Mammography Departments in Chicago Safety Net Hospital System by Jeanette Avila and Norma Lazo
Additionally, Summit attendees voted for CHW of the Year and four awards were presented: CHW of the Year, CHW Educator of the Year, CHW Employer of the Year, and CHW Supervisor of the Year. This is what the nominators said about our winners:
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