Understanding structural inequities and their influence on health: Training for Community Health Workers and Trusted Messengers

This project includes the development of interactive web-based training modules for Community Health Workers and Trusted Messengers (community leaders with the capacity to influence health in their roles, which may include a broad range of human service providers), as well as general health care providers. The modules will focus on documented structural inequities that have demonstrated an influence on human health and are most often observed as healthy disparities in underserved communities. Traditional health promotion programs have focused on behavior change, and while these are recognized as important influences on health, they often fail to sufficiently achieve anticipated outcomes, particularly among underserved populations. There is a deficit of understanding of how current and historical structural inequities have played a substantial role in health disparities among Black Americans. This series of training modules will include: (1) an overview of historical inequities that continue to influence health disparities among Black Americans (2) guidance on how to assess and address implicit or unconscious bias in human services (3) guidance for CHW’s on how to promote empowerment and health activation among populations who have experienced discrimination and/or intergenerational trauma associated with structural inequities.