Community Health Worker Training Center

The College of Public Health holds a Texas Department of State Health Services, Certified Community Health Worker (CHW) Training Center, offering CHW and CHW Instructor (CHWI) certification as well as continuing education units (CEUs). The UNT Health CHW Training Center builds workforce capacity by providing low-cost training and continuing education, helping to upskill individuals in communities disproportionately affected by health inequities. These efforts support better care continuity and access to reliable health information, particularly after discharge from healthcare and in areas of inequity.

CHWs play an essential role in improving health literacy in the communities they serve which reduces harm, enhances access to care and patient safety, increases preventive care use, and connects individuals to critical resources, especially during times of disruption. Despite their recognized value in public health, CHWs remain underutilized.

CHWs are especially important in rural Texas, where approximately three million people, just over 10% of the state’s population, face limited access to healthcare services, inadequate broadband infrastructure, and high uninsured rates. While affordability is a key barrier, CHWs also address other challenges, including geographic distance to providers, limited healthcare capacity, and gaps between patient needs and available services. They further help bridge social, cultural, and linguistic barriers that can affect healthcare utilization, particularly in a state with a large and varied population.

Courses are delivered in a hybrid online format, totaling 160 hours over 16 weeks (10 hours per week) to meet Texas state requirements. Most participants are referred through graduate word-of-mouth, supplemented by ongoing media coverage and outreach materials shared with CHW associations and employers statewide. To date, we have graduated hundreds of Community Health Workers (CHWs) and CHW Instructors (CHWIs).

Going forward, we are seeing increased demand for advanced training in priority areas such as opioid response, maternal health, health literacy, vaccine confidence, structural inequities, older adult care, hypertension, and diabetes management.

To meet these needs, we plan to expand our capacity to recruit, train, and deploy specialized CHWs to support community-based organizations, particularly in historically underserved and rural communities. This approach will strengthen program sustainability while demonstrating the value of CHWs. If you're interested in partnering with us for education tailored specifically to your business, outreach or need, please contact us and we can work to customize a program that works to fulfill your request.