Wisconsin CHW Census

This Wisconsin Community Health Worker (CHW) Census is available in Hmong, Spanish, and English.
Este censo de trabajadores de la salud en la comunidad (Community Health Worker, CHW) de Wisconsin está disponible en hmong, español e inglés.
Qhov Kev Ntsuam Xyuas Cov Neeg Ua Hauj Lwm Saib Xyuas Kev Noj Qab Haus Huv Hauv Zej Zog (CHW) hauv Wisconsin no muaj ua Lus Hmoob, Lus Xab Pees Niv, thiab Lus Askiv. 

• Hmong: Take the Wisconsin CHW Census in Hmong. 

Introduction
Community Health Workers or CHWs play an important role in Wisconsin's public health and health care systems. This CHW Census will help inform, support, and advance the CHW workforce in Wisconsin. The CHW Census is a survey developed by Wisconsin Department of Health Services’ Chronic Disease Prevention Program (CDPP) and Wisconsin Transforming Maternal Health (TMaH) Initiative in collaboration with the Wisconsin Association for Community Health Workers’ (WiACHW) Advocacy Committee and WiACHW Board of Directors. “Census” and “survey” are both referencing this Wisconsin CHW Census.  

This survey is to be taken by CHWs. CHWs sometimes have different titles, but the work they do within their roles still align with the American Public Health Association (APHA) definition. Please review APHA’s definition of a CHW below before moving forward with taking this survey.

CHWs are the bridge that connect people to care and resources to help them be healthy. APHA defines a CHW as “a frontline public health worker who is a trusted member of and/or has an unusually close understanding of the community served. This trusting relationship enables the CHW 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. The CHW also builds individual and community capacity by increasing health knowledge and self-sufficiency through a range of activities such as outreach, community education, informal counseling, social support and advocacy.”

If your work aligns with the APHA CHW definition, please continue on for additional information to help guide you in completing this survey.

Why take this survey? Because it will benefit the CHW workforce. Some of the benefits are listed below. This Wisconsin CHW Census will help: 

• Inform policy and sustainability: Census data will help create CHW-informed policies. This helps support fair pay, benefits, and long-term funding. It supports CHW successful integration.
• Define the workforce: The census shows the C3 roles CHWs are working in. It also paints the picture of what types of organizations and communities CHWs work in.
• Secure funding: The census data will show the size of the CHW workforce. It will show the impact CHWs have in communities. This supports securing sustainable, long-term funding.
• Improve health outcomes in communities: Census data shows which communities need more resources. It shows what resources CHWs are saying their communities need. This supports CHWs in their role as well as health outcomes in Wisconsin communities.
• Identify training: The census will show how many CHWs have taken C3 CHW Core Competency training. It shows other specialty training CHWs take. This will help with knowing what the training needs are for the workforce.
• Expand partnerships and maximize CHW scope: The census will show the full scope of the CHW profession. This will help health care, public health, payers, and other partners better understand how to engage CHWs in practice, and maximize the specialized roles, skills and qualities of CHWs.
• Track growth: Repeating the census will show the workforce when the workforce needs change over time. This allows for changes in supporting CHWs in their roles.

What is this survey?

• This survey is not designed to identify individual CHWs.
• It is designed to summarize the CHW profession as a whole.

The census will ask you for some information about:

• You and your CHW profession
• Where you work
• How you're integrated within your organization and any supervisory support
• Trainings you completed and want to see
• The community you work with and the work you do
• How you work with providers and policy 
• Engaging with other CHWs 
• Your thoughts about the CHW profession

Timeline: Complete this survey by December 31, 2026. 

Estimated time to complete this survey: 20 to 40 minutes. 

Survey tips

• All questions relate to your role as a CHW. 
• Use the survey’s navigation buttons at the bottom of the page instead of your internet browser’s navigation.
• We suggest you complete this survey in one sitting. However, there is a "Save and continue later" option.  
  • After the first page, you can select the "Save and continue later" toolbar in the top right corner. 
  • Then, enter your email address when prompted.  
  • A unique link will be emailed to that email address.  
  • Use that unique link to come back to where you left off and finish the survey. You must use that unique link to see your saved responses. Do not share that unique link with anyone.  
  • Wisconsin DHS CDPP cannot provide technical support if there are issues with the unique link or accessing your saved responses. 
• Some questions have word limits. If applicable, the maximum number of words allowed is noted in the question and under the text box field.  
• You must complete all required questions to go to the next page or submit your responses. Required questions are indicated by a red asterisk (*). 
• You will not be able to navigate to any previous responses once “Submit” is selected at the bottom of the last page.
• Per DHS guidelines, do not include any unnecessary personally-identifiable information (PII) or protected health information (PHI) in your responses.

Questions
If you have any questions, please contact DHSCommunityHealthWorkers@dhs.wisconsin.gov (subject line: “Wisconsin CHW Census”).

Federal funding statement
This survey is supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of a financial assistance award totaling $1,908,833 with 100 percent funded by CDC/HHS. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by CDC/HHS, or the U.S. Government.