Community Health Workers Learn Perinatal Outreach Approaches at UAMS Training
| LITTLE ROCK — Twenty community health workers (CHWs) from across Arkansas recently gathered in Springdale with a shared goal: to build connections and learn how to better support mothers across the state.
Hosted by the UAMS Institute for Community Health Innovation, the three-day Perinatal CHW Upskill Training provided interactive, hands-on learning to help CHWs better support individuals and families during pregnancy, birth, and the postpartum period. The June 10-12 training was led by Sarah Covington Kolb with the University of South Carolina’s Center for Community Health Alignment.
“These community health workers have a lot of knowledge and experience, and they’ve been doing some amazing things in their communities,” Kolb said. “With this training, we’ve been able to get them in the same room, talking to each other and sharing information and knowledge that they can take back to their communities. “
The training included CHWs from UAMS and other organizations, as well as a guest speaker from the Arkansas Department of Health. Amaya Minchew, a CHW from Monticello, said the training will help her address barriers to care that are common within her community.
“I feel like what I learned will help me better show up for patients,” Minchew said. “We have a lot of barriers — like language barriers and transportation — and this training has helped me learn about where to look for different resources and just how to focus better on moms.”
Tracy Glover, a UAMS CHW who serves communities in south Arkansas, described the training as “very conversational and very informative.”
“This training will help me to serve my community better by providing information to expand my knowledge on various topics such as safe sleep, breastfeeding, perinatal mental health, and much more,” Glover said.
The Perinatal CHW Upskill training is part of the institute’s initiative to train and embed CHWs to better serve communities with limited access to care. In partnership with the Arkansas Community Health Worker Association, the institute has trained more than 430 CHWs since 2022.
“As a largely rural state, Arkansas faces unique challenges in ensuring access to quality health care, particularly for expectant and new mothers navigating pregnancy and the postpartum period,” said Pearl McElfish, director of the institute. “Through initiatives like the Perinatal CHW training, we’re addressing these gaps by equipping trusted community members with the skills and resources to connect families to care, support healthy pregnancies, and help give Arkansas mothers and babies the strongest possible start.”
To learn more about the Institute for Community Health Innovation and its community health worker training programs, visit communityhealth.uams.edu.
