Michelle A Gabbard

A social worker is a person who is qualified by a Social Work degree, and licensed, certified or registered by the state as a social worker to practice within the scope of that license. A social worker provides assistance and counseling to clients and their families who are dealing with social, emotional and environmental problems. Social work services may be rendered to individuals, families, groups, and the public.

Community health workers (CHW) are lay members of communities who work either for pay or as volunteers in association with the local health care system in both urban and rural environments and usually share ethnicity, language, socioeconomic status and life experiences with the community members they serve. They have been identified by many titles such as community health advisors, lay health advocates, "promotores(as), outreach educators, community health representatives, peer health promoters, and peer health educators. CHWs offer interpretation and translation services, provide culturally appropriate health education and information, assist people in receiving the care they need, give informal counseling and guidance on health behaviors, advocate for individual and community health needs, and provide some direct services such as first aid and blood pressure screening. Some examples of these practitioners are Community Health Aides or Practitioners established under 25 USC 1616 (l) under HHS, Indian Health Service, Public Health Service.

Individuals certified to perform peer support services through a training process defined by a government agency, such as the Department of Veterans Affairs or a state mental health department/certification/licensing authority.

Prevention Professionals work in programs aimed to address specific patient needs, such as suicide prevention, violence prevention, alcohol avoidance, drug avoidance, and tobacco prevention. The goal of the program is to reduce the risk of relapse, injury, or re-injury of the patient. Prevention Professionals work in a variety of settings and provide appropriate case management, mediation, referral, and mentorship services. Individuals complete prevention professionals training for the population of patients with whom they work.

Individuals certified to perform peer support services through a training process defined by a government agency, such as the Department of Veterans Affairs or a state mental health department/certification/licensing authority.

Definition to come...