The National Association of Community Health Workers presents the Unity Conference and Annual Meeting in-person on August 3rd-5th, 2023 in Austin, Texas. This year’s theme is Community Health Workers: The Workforce We Need for the World We Want. We invite you to apply to become a session presenter! 

We are seeking presentations from Community Health Workers (CHWs) including Community Health Representatives (CHRs) and Promotores de Salud.  We encourage presentations from Allies and Community Organizations to include at minimum one CHW/CHR/Promotores de Salud on the presentation team. 

Community Health Workers (CHWs) is an umbrella term including promotores health representatives and more than 50 other job titles). CHWs are frontline , community public health workers who are trusted members of and /or have an unusually close understanding of the community served. This trusting relationship enables CHWs to serve as a liaison/link/ intermediary between health/social services and the community to facilitate access to services and improve the quality and cultural competence of service delivery (APHA, 2014), and improves clinical, behavioral and social service access, delivery, quality, and care system performance. 

We’re excited to hear from you! Please share your knowledge, experience, skills, and abilities!  

If you are a leader or supervisor, please encourage a CHW you know to submit a presentation for the conference! 

 

Presenters will have several different options to apply to present:

  1. Present a workshop or roundtable for 1 hour and 15 minutes  
  2. Present a training for 2 hours and 30  
  3. Present a poster presentation, 45-minute session.  
  4. Host a self-care session for 1 hour  

For the Workshops, Roundtables, Trainings, or Poster Presentations please see below a list of recommended categories and sub-topics:

Policy and Research:

  • Policy, Advocacy and Research that impacts the CHW profession 
  • Policy achievements on the local, state, or national levels  
  • Innovation in sustainable funding models and/or Medicaid advancements  
  • CHW-led program evaluation  

Social and Structural Determinants of Health and/or Cross-Sector Partnership:

  • CHWs implementing innovative practices and/or models of care  
  • CHWs, community-based organizations, health systems, and other organizations collaborating address social and/or structural determinants of health 
  • Tribal Nation learnings and demonstration models for CHW 
  • Models where CHWs are leading strategies toward health equity  

Workforce Development:

  • Career Pathways 
  • Capacity building strategies  
  • Supervising training 
  • Negotiating salary, Resume writing and/or interview skills  
  • Best practices for hiring, retention, and sustainability  

Chronic Disease, Infectious Disease, and/or Special Populations:

  • Effective mental health and wellness strategies  
  • CHWs providing support and services for chronic diseases (diabetes, heart disease, etc.) 
  • CHWs providing support and services sexual transmitted infectious (STIs)  
  • CHWs providing support and services through infectious disease outbreaks (COVID-19, monkeypox, RSV, etc.)  
  • CHWs providing support and services for children’s health  
  • Cultural competency workshops/trainings  
  • Other topics where CHWs are leading in innovating on Chronic Disease, Infectious Disease, and/or Special Populations  
  • CHWs providing support and services to justice involved individuals and/or re-entry  
  • CHWs providing support and services to those experiencing homelessness  
  • CHWs improving access and outreach for those who are disabled  

Self-Care Workshop/Session:

  • Chair yoga  
  • Jewelry making  
  • Crafting  
  • Hosting a space for a specific community  
  • Dance class  
  • Art  
  • Poetry and/or Creative writing 
  • Other self-care topics
     

For your application you will need to identify your category and a sub-topic (up-to 3 sub-topics can be selected). We acknowledge that many presentations will include elements from several of our categories, but please choose the category you feel best represents your presentation, training, or poster presentation.  

For examples of last year’s workshops, visit https://nachwunity.org/conference-videos/  

 

Know before you apply:  

  1. Your primary audience are CHW members and Ally members of supporting Allies of National Association of Community Health Workers.  
  2. Session presenters must include at least one community health worker presenter.  
  3. Presenters must attend the conference in-person in Austin, Texas, Annual meeting will be on August 3rd and these session will take place on the 4th and 5th.   
  4. There will up be-to 40 workshops/trainings and up-to 50 poster presentations.  
  5. Your topic, bio and headshot will be promoted through NACHW social media, website, and a printed agenda shipped to all attendees.  
  6. Some workshops will be recorded and livestreamed, and recordings may be distributed by NACHW as future educational material and marketing promotion.  Your submission of presentation materials after you have been confirmed as a presenter gives consent to NACHW to record and distribute the conference presentation and slide deck(s). 
  7. Your application will be reviewed by a selection committee and committee member may contact you with further questions.  
  8. Presentations can be presented in English and Spanish  

Any questions, please contact [email protected] 

 

Dates to know:  

  • Applications open: January 19th   
  • Applications due: February 27th
  • Applicants notified: March 10th   
  • Speakers receive final schedule: March 24th  
  • Presentations at the Unity Conference: August 4th and 5th   

 

Here’s what you will be asked to provide in your application:  

  • Name of Applicant: 
  • Name of Organization:  
  • Website of Organization:  
  • Applicant Contact information: Phone, Email, Address, Social Media handles, etc. 
  • Additional Speakers: Phone, Email, Address, Social Media handles, etc. 
  • Applicant Bio: (250 limit word count) 
  • Topic Title: (Maximum 20 Words)  
  • Category and sub-topics (100 word limit)  
  • Session Abstract/ Description: (Maximum 200 Words) 
  • What CHW Core Competencies are included in your presentation? (Only needed if you are doing a workshop or training).  
  • Session Objectives (What will attendees learn?) Please begin the description of each learning objective with a VERB) 
  • How does this session relate to this year’s theme, The Workforce We Need for the World We Want? (Maximum 200 Words)  
  • Please describe how you will create an interactive and highly engaging environment for your workshop attendees (Maximum 200 words)  
  • Upload headshot: (.jpg file)  

 

How to Apply: 

Please complete your application by 11:59 pm EST on February 27th, 2023, and upload here: https://form.jotform.com/223464308088055  

We look forward to your application!  

¿Quieres aplicar en español? ¡Usa este formulario!