Translating Evaluation for the Unrecognized Evaluator

Abstract Information: A community health worker and an evaluator walk into a room, what do they have in common? Quite a lot actually! Community health workers (CHWs) are public health workers who are trusted members or have significant influence or connection to their community. These CHW go by many names like peer educators, navigators, advocates, organizers, and liaisons. Their roles span far and wide as they navigate how to address the health disparities in their community. CHWs are often asked to conduct surveys or interviews with their community to tell the story of health disparities through the community perspective. These CHWs are key drivers of many of our community needs or health assessments, but when you mention evaluation, you may be met with confused stares. Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) is committed to empowering and supporting CHWs across the state. Evaluation is important in analyzing the challenges communities face, so it is imperative to uplift and train CHWs to feel confident in and recognize their inherent evaluation skills. MDH will share the plans of the Empowering Through Numbers pilot workshop that expanded and translated the skills Minnesotan CHWs already had within them, led by a CHW who joined the MDH as an evaluator. Join us to learn about translating evaluation skills and concepts for a community-serving workforce which enhances both the CHW workforce and the evaluation workforce. In this presentation, the audience will learn the importance of the role of CHWs in our communities, CHWs' overlap with evaluators, and about MDH'S Empowering Through Numbers pilot workshop.

Relevance Statement: Evaluation does not have to be conducted by a PhD. In fact, the more people who can see their work as evaluation, the richer the field of evaluation becomes. By helping CHWs discover their abilities as evaluators, we are helping to expand the field of evaluation while providing professional development for this valuable, often overlooked community-based profession. Sharing our strategies and methods to help others realize their potential in and practice of evaluation strengthens our own abilities and those of others. Sharing this experience is timed well with the recent focus of multiple funders being initiatives led by navigators, peer specialists, CHWs, and other community-member professionals.