Today, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, in partnership with Community Health Councils and Team Friday, launched a new video series— “COVID-19 Diaries – A Day in the Life of a Community Health Worker.” WATCH: A Day in the Life of a Community Health Worker. The 9-part video series highlights individual stories that make up the collective commitment of Community Health Workers across LA County that have outreached to nearly 6 million residents since the beginning of the pandemic.
The Community Health Worker Outreach Initiative (CHWOI) began in October 2020 to conduct countywide community outreach to those most impacted by COVID-19. The initiative utilizes a peer-to-peer approach to enhance a community-based system of response by partnering with trusted community voices to amplify accurate and up-to-date information about COVID-19 and ensure equitable access to vaccinations and resources across the County. At the height of this project, CHWOI had seventeen subcontracted agencies with over 900 CHWs working in communities most highly impacted by the virus. Since October 2020, CHWs have conducted more than 1,066,000 outreaches and reached over 5.9 million individuals.
Community Health Workers are trusted messengers in their communities. Often they are residents of the same neighborhoods where they work, share the same ethnicity and language and are passionate about reaching their neighbors with information and resources.
The CHWs come from varied Community-Based Organizations and peer groups, including promotores, indigenous and people of color advocates, health outreach workers, essential worker advocates, parent advocates, gang intervention workers, and peace ambassadors. Community Health Workers connect directly with people who don’t or can’t access mainstream media. Engaging with communities that need the most resources, the CHWs also bring back insight and information to Public Health to inform outreach, access, and resources. “Public Health is grateful to all the health educators and promotoras for sharing their stories and serving as trusted sources of information about COVID and the vaccines,” said Barbara Ferrer, PhD, MPH, MEd, Director of Public Health.
“The CHW Outreach Initiative is a vital link to building healthy communities as it allows us to fund people and organizations in under-resourced communities to do essential work in their neighborhoods, and we can hear directly from the CHWs about what is working and what is needed. Given the continued risk in under-resourced communities, these partnerships allow residents to access resources essential for good health and well-being, and get the information to those that need it the most.”
Helping the community is a personal mission for Susana Moncado, who serves Metro LA and East LA with Clínica Romero. Like so many other CHWs, she spends her time bringing information and providing resources to her community. She says, “when we help others, we are helping ourselves,” and the best part of the job is being able to provide support to her community “because every day is a different story for each family.”
For others like Joseph Jackson, who serves West LA and South LA with the Department’s own Community Health Worker program, this work means the opportunity to return to where he grew up. “I get to see the people I grew up with and I get to let them see that there’s hope.” As his work takes him through the neighborhoods, one house and one neighbor at a time, Joseph highlights the chance he has to dispel many myths and misbeliefs about COVID-19, vaccines, and safety measures. As he states, the CHWs are the “…boots on the ground. We are the frontline. We try to make things better.”
The 9-part video series features the following CHWs:
Antonia Gomez, serves East LA at East L.A. Women’s Health Center.
Bria McClain, serves South LA with Trust, Research, Access, and Prevention (TRAP) Medicine.
Joseph Jackson, serves West and South LA with the LA County Department of Public Health. Kevin Bangi, serves South LA with Trust, Research, Access, and Prevention (TRAP) Medicine.
Natalie Lozada, serves Boyle Heights with Clínica Romero.
Nelson Nailat, serves Inglewood, Gardena, Westmont, Long Beach, and South Bay cities with Asian-American Drug Abuse Program.
Susana Moncado, serves Metro LA and East LA with Clínica Romero, Spanish language video.
Tanant Matakaveepat, serves Thai Town, Hollywood, and North Hollywood, with Thai CDC.
One video in English, one video in Thai.
The LA County Department of Public Health has engaged and resourced Community Health Workers (CHWs) before the COVID-19 pandemic. This commitment to equity and community engagement allowed the Department to scale the CHW program as a core response to the pandemic’s devastating impact on communities of color.
The collective effort of CHWs across LA County has demonstrated immense success, reaching over 5.9 million individuals in communities throughout Los Angeles County. Just recently, the California governor’s budget for 2022-23 included $350 million to recruit, train, and certify 25,000 new Community Health Workers by 2025. By providing linkages to health and social service providers, CHWs are the equitable bridge between public health and the most under-resourced communities. The 9-part video series titled “COVID-19 Diaries – A Day in the Life of A Community Health Worker” is available now on the LA County Department of Public Health YouTube channel.
