Envisioning Elemental Care: Multimedia Messages of Community Health Workers
Hermelinda Miller speaks with a Community Health Worker client. (Photo courtesy of the NCCHW's Culture of Results Initiative)
On October 22, 2023, Emma Olson, Associate Director of the NC Center for Health and Wellness (NCCHW), presented a short film (~7 min) depicting the impact and experiences of community health workers (CHWs) across Western North Carolina as a Lightning Talk at The Imagining America 2023 National Gathering: Radical Reckoning – Invoking the Elements for Collective Change.
The research team curated images and voices that illustrate how CHWs evoke the elements (as invited by this conference theme) and cast a circle, a traditional healing and prayer practice. The session title plays on how the care provided by community health workers addresses the most essential and fundamental needs we have as humans and also aligns with the energies around us.
These multimedia results were compiled from the third year of a community-based participatory research and action (CBPRA) evaluation, led by the Culture of Results Initiative of the North Carolina Center for Health and Wellness (NCCHW) in partnership with our community research team and community agencies. Information was collected through observations and interviews of CHWs and clients.
An extended cut (~12 min) of the film is also available here.
Past evaluations and more information about the Center’s work is posted on NCCHW's collaborative research webpage.
Additional Resources
To learn more about Community Health Workers and the critical work they do in our region and across the state, check out the following resources:
NCCWH/Culture of Results Initiative “Evaluation of the Western North Carolina (WNC) Community Health Workers (CHWs) Initiative” Final Report, Jan 2023 (pdf)
NC Community Health Worker Association website
NC AHEC’s Community Health Worker Program website and Facebook page
