Healthcare in general is difficult to navigate, especially in the United States. It becomes easy for healthcare systems to feel increasingly more separate from the individuals and communities that they serve. The barriers that exist are often more complex than a one step solution and require a genuine understanding of the patient's situation. This important and impactful work of connecting the patient to the system is completed by Community Health Workers (CHW). CHWs are healthcare personnel who often reside in the community they work in. Their primary roles are helping patients increase adherence, improving local healthcare systems, understanding community members' perspectives, and reducing the need for emergency services. Given their presence in the community, “they tend to have similar cultural knowledge, practices, and beliefs, chronic health conditions, disabilities, or life experiences as other people in the same community” (Rhode Island Department of Public Health, 2024). Their relationship to the community places CHWs in a unique position to make upstream change by connecting the patient to the system more directly.
Cleia Ramos Monteiro, a recent college grad and MSW candidate at Rhode Island College, is the community health worker team lead here at Wheelhouse Health. Beginning her healthcare career working in a hospital gave Monteiro the ability to witness systematic barriers that exist for so many individuals first hand. These complications included communication barriers, insurance misconceptions, and an overall trepidation around asking for help out of fear of discrimination. Her acknowledgement of this issue kick-started her journey to becoming a community health worker and pursuing a masters in social work. Monteiro hopes her specialty as both a CHW and a social worker will allow her to work with people from two realms; the structural and individual one.
Monteiro has recently completed a twelve week course program where she met with professionals and was taught core competencies. “It’s not difficult to become certified”, she shared “You do not need a previous degree or a ton of experience-anybody can do it!” She feels that the job is rewarding and allows you to really understand what you can offer to others. Monteiro enjoys the fact that community health work is a multifaceted and unpredictable job. She shares, “Community health work is different each day and you're learning all of the time!” The versatile work of a CHW keeps workers continually engaged and perpetually learning.
When asking Monteiro about her inspiration, she replied “My answer is very cheesy, but I want to help people. I don’t think that people realize how difficult it is to actually navigate the systems we put in place around healthcare.” She shared that she is really passionate about language barriers in healthcare and recognizes how lack of proper communication can stop people from seeking the healthcare they need in the first place. Like many individuals working in community health, Monteiro has the goal of bridging the gap between patients and systems. She believes that the CHW certification fits perfectly with her ultimate goal in being a social worker and helping people to succeed on a more individual level while existing in a severely flawed system.
Cleia Ramos Monteiro’s voice represents so many of us working in community level health care. Her passion and commitment to others is inspiring and exemplifies the hope we must have for the future of healthcare. It is imperative that the role of CHW’s does not go unnoticed as their day to day work makes a world of a difference at both systematic and individual levels. Monteiro and so many other CHWs exclaim that their favorite part of the work is acting as the point person for others and getting to see the direct impact that they are making. “I want to ensure that people are not being treated poorly,” she shares, “Being that point person for others would make my heart so happy”.
Shared below is a link on how to become a community health worker along with some resources about the job. To join Cleia and so many others in this experience, check out some of the resources shared below.
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