Recruitment, Training, and Roles of the Bilingual, Bicultural Navegantes: Developing a Specialized Workforce of Community Health Workers to Serve a Low-Income, Spanish-Speaking Population in Rhode Island

Authors: Meghan McCarthy, Katherine Barry, Cindy Estrada, Brenda Veliz, Damaris Rosales, Morgan Leonard, and Anne S. De Groot

Community health workers (CHWs) share the multicultural and multilingual characteristics of their communities and are thus able to provide culturally sensitive healthcare. The Hope Clinic in Rhode Island developed a peer-led Advanced Navagente Training Program (ANTP) to prepare spanish-speaking individuals to become certified CHWs who provide patient navigation, life-style coaching and professional medical interpretation services. This low-cost, community-based ANTP successfully prepared participants to provide community services. Individuals who completed the course were also able to find higher paying jobs in their communities.