Community Health Workers
I. JOB SUMMARY
Main Topic: Human Geography
Secondary Topic: Environment and Society
Overview: Community health workers work within a community to connect people to healthcare professionals usually working with health educators. They will identify health issues, collect data, and discuss concerns in the community. Collecting and analyzing a community’s health data is important for educating and informing the public. Community health workers help people overcome barriers to welfare programs or sign individuals up for Medicaid or Medicare explain the program. While health educators and provider develop educational programs, community health workers will evaluate and adjust these programs based on the needs of their community. Individuals with a background in geography would be well suited in gathering and analyzing health data within a community. Community health workers with engage residents in a community with health education and resources. This field will continue to increase over the next decade.
Geographers at work: Human geographers, Health geographers, GIS specialists, Local geographers
Recommended College Courses: Introduction to Cultural Geography, World Geography, Cartography, Research Methods in Geography, Urban Geography, Community and Regional Planning, Political Geography, World Population, Cities and Urban Design, Maps and Mapmaking, American Ethnic Geography
Skills: Human resource management, Qualitative and quantitative methods, Field methods, Working with census data, Local geography
Occupation Group: Community and Social Service
Learn more about Community Health Workers from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and U.S. Department of Labor: https://www.bls.gov/ooh/community-and-social-service/health-educators.htm#tab-2
Written by Alisa Hartsell
II. POWERFUL GEOGRAPHIC KNOWLEDGE
