On Friday, July 8, 2022, the Hawai‘i Community Health Worker (HICHW) Association hosted its 2022 Hawai‘i Community Health Worker Conference in partnership with the Department of Health and Hawai‘i Public Health Institute (HIPHI). It was a beautiful day at the Ko‘olau Ballrooms and Conference Center with a spectacular view of the Ko‘olau mountains.
Learning. Collaborating. Networking.
Read the 2022 Hawai’i Community Health Worker Conference: Growing In Strength recap below and stay tuned for upcoming conferences and regional meetings!
2022 Hawai'i Community Health Worker Conference Recap
The 2022 Hawai‘i Community Health Worker Conference: Growing In Strength was special as it was the first in-person gathering for the HICHW Association since the pandemic. 200 Community Health Workers (CHW), allies, and employers registered to attend this all-day conference with a record-breaking attendance from our neighboring island CHWs.
They enjoyed a day filled with discussions and training to continue the growth of the CHW profession beginning with keynote speaker: Abby Charles who is the Program Director at the Institute for Public Health Innovation (IPHI). Abby shared her experience with starting CHW initiatives and workforce development to lessons learned from building CHW Associations that motivated Hawai‘i CHW to get involved in growing the Hawai‘i CHW workforce. Attendees were then led to the first breakout session of the morning with training and discussion on Chronic Disease Conditions led by Dr. Richardo Custodio of the University of Hawai‘i at West O‘ahu, Built Environment led by CJ Johnson of AlohaCare, and Kūpuna Health led by Dr. Poki‘i Balaz of Lunalilo Home.
Additional knowledge was gained during the second breakout session of the day that covered Historical Trauma and Cultural resilience led by Dr. Manulani Alui Meyer of the University of Hawai‘i at West O‘ahu, CHW Skill Building led by CJ Johnson of AlohaCare, a continuation of Kūpuna Health led by Dr. Balaz, and a CHW Workforce Development track that hosted a diverse panel for CHWs, allies, and employers from HIPHI, Kōkua Kalihi Valley, Queen’s Medical Center, and HMSA.
The day ended with a powerful discussion led by our HICHW Leadership Council who discussed ways to get involved and the next steps for the association. It was an eye-opener for many CHWs and allies to hear about previous efforts during this past legislative session and the importance of staying involved with CHW initiatives. This discussion led to an increase in CHW involvement in various committees and to filling the open Leadership Council seats.
The success of this conference would not have been possible without the efforts from our 2022 Conference Planning Committee, sponsors, exhibitors, hosts, and many volunteers. We continue to extend our mahalo to everyone involved in the planning process and to all of our attendees. To view photos captured at the conference, please click here. For more information on how to stay involved with CHW efforts, please visit our Get Involved webpage.