Equal Opportunity Employer
The mission of the Health Federation of Philadelphia is to promote health equity for marginalized communities by advancing access to high-quality, integrated, and comprehensive health and human services. Health equity is at the heart of all our work. We believe in and are firmly committed to equal employment opportunity for employees and applicants. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national or ethnic origin, ancestry, age, religion, disability, sex or gender, gender identity and/or expression, sexual orientation, military or veteran status. This commitment applies to all aspects of the Health Federation of Philadelphia’s employment practices, including recruiting, hiring, training, and promotion.
JOB SUMMARY
The individual hired for this role will be a key member of the team working on a CDC-funded project to prevent and manage diabetes and related complications among underserved communities in Philadelphia.
The Lead CHW will act as the main Lifestyle Coach for National Diabetes Prevention Program (NDPP) groups in health center and community-based organization settings. The NDPP is a year-long lifestyle change program that has been proven to help people with pre-diabetes slow or stop the progression to Type 2 Diabetes. Groups meet weekly for the first six months and participate in a structured curriculum while committing to changing their diets and increasing physical activity. The Lead CHW will work with partner organizations to recruit NDPP participants, orient potential participants to the program, and enroll them in groups. They will then lead groups and maintain contact with participants and host organizations between groups. In addition, they will support participants by connecting them to health services, and clinical care, and helping with a variety of social issues that hamper their ability to maintain good health. They will also work with the Project Director and consultants to develop and improve CHW training and professional development activities, in addition to participating in coalition work to define the CHW role and advocate for reimbursement. Through both programs, this role will support the training of new Community Health Workers.
For this role, we will seek to hire an experienced CHW with leadership and communications skills as well as lived experience. Experience working with patients with Diabetes and/or pre-diabetes and training as an NDPP Lifestyle Coach is highly desirable.
JOB SPECIFICATIONS
Responsibilities/Duties:
- Build relationships with partner organizations, and communicate with referring providers.
- Engage in outreach to potential program participants to recruit into the program.
- Assess and address potential barriers to participation, including transportation, digital access, and childcare.
- Mentor and support other Lifestyle Coaches at partner organizations.
- Deliver the “Prevent T2” Program, adhering to the CDC-approved curriculum with the required intensity and duration (per the Diabetes Prevention Recognition Program Standards and Operating Procedures, i.e., DPRP Standards) to participants in a mindful, culturally competent, and trauma-informed manner.
- Encourage individual and group participation through interaction with open-ended questions and facilitate commitment to activities for effective lifestyle change. Motivate participants and create a welcoming and interactive environment for group discussion and community learning, whether in-person or online. Prioritize learning as a shared objective and encourage peer-to-peer engagement
- Prepare and stay updated on new findings and class content, review data, make reminder calls, send text messages and/or emails to participants, and document weekly weight and activity minutes.
- Be accessible to participants between weekly sessions to answer questions via the preferred method. Remind participants about upcoming sessions and address continued barriers to participation.
- In collaboration with the Diabetes Program Manager and/or Data Preparer, record, review, and submit session data elements for each participant within the DPRP Standards (i.e., attendance, body weight, total weekly minutes of physical activity, etc.)
- When make-up sessions are needed, follow up with participants outside of class if they were unable to attend a session that week (during months 1-6) or month (during months 7-12) to offer a make-up session (make-up sessions should consist of a one hour, in-person discussion or can be delivered via phone, video conference, or virtual session)
- Collaborate with the Diabetes Program Manager and others involved in data preparation to regularly monitor participant progress and address any issues to support participant outcomes.
- Comply with all applicable laws and regulations, including those governing participant privacy and data security (e.g., the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act [HIPAA])
- Support training and coaching of contract CHWs and CHWs working within partner organizations who are serving as Lifestyle Coaches
- Participate in coalition-building and advocacy related to the role of CHWs in Diabetes Prevention and Management.
