Introduction to Interviewing for CHWs
What interviewing skills do you need to gain insight into the strengths, assets and challenges of your clients and communities?
Course Information
- Audience: Community Health Workers and other public health professionals needing client interviewing skills to capture information relevant to the services offered by your agency/network.
- Format: Self-paced
- Price: Free
- Length: 1 hour
- Credential(s) eligible for contact hours:
Sponsored by New England Public Health Training Center (NEPHTC), a designated provider of continuing education contact hours (CECH) in health education by the National Commission for Health Education Credentialing, Inc. This program is designated for Certified Health Education Specialists (CHES) and/or Master Certified Health Education Specialists (MCHES) to receive up to 1 total Category I continuing education contact hour. Maximum advanced-level continuing education contact hour is 1. Provider ID: 1131137 Event ID: SS1131137_IICHW.
If you are not seeking a CHES/MCHES contact hours, if you complete the post-test and evaluation, you will receive a Certificate of Completion. The Certificate will include the length of the course. - Competencies: Communication Skills
- Learning Level: Awareness
- Companion trainings: Introduction to HIPAA for CHWs
Introduction to Ethics for CHWs and
Introduction to Outreach Methods and Strategies - Pre-requisites: None
- Supplemental materials:
- Technical Requirements: This training was created with Articulate Storyline. Please refer to the Articulate 360 System Specifications to ensure your system meets the minimum requirements for viewing.
About this course
Client interviewing is a vital skill for Community Health Workers, as it directly influences the quality of care provided to clients. Building trust throughout the interviewing process is crucial, as it encourages clients to share sensitive information and fosters a supportive environment.
The interviewing process can be broken down into five key phases: Planning, Introduction, Fact Gathering, Ascertaining Client Needs/Goals, and Conclusion/Next Steps.
In this course, you will learn about the critical role of client interviewing in your work as a Community Health Worker and best practices for each of the five phases.
What you'll learn
After completing this course, you will be able to...
- Outline the qualities of an effective client interview
- Identify best practices for conducting each of the five stages of a client interview effectively: Planning, Introduction, Fact Gathering, Ascertaining Clients' Needs/Goals, Conclusion/Next Steps
- Leverage the Accountable Health Communities (AHC) Health-Related Social Needs (HRSN) Screening Tool or other similar tools for fact gathering to screen or assess a client
- Identify actions to continue to improve client interview skills
This course had been updated by WePair Health as of 2026. WePair Health is the first AI-enabled career marketplace, built by and for Community Health Workers and Doulas.
Subject Matter Expert
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Dawn Heffernan
Dawn Heffernan is a nurse and a public health professional who has supervised and trained community health workers for over a decade. Ms. Heffernan is passionate about community health and education. In addition to developing training for the New Public Health Training Center, she is currently working for Partners in Health as a case investigator for the corona virus pandemic.
Enrollment and Contact Hours
Select the Enroll button below to register for the course. If you have any trouble accessing the course, contact support@nephtc.org.
Acknowledgement: This project is/was supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under grant number UB6HP31685 “Regional Public Health Training Center Program.” This information or content and conclusions are those of the author and should not be construed as the official position or policy of, nor should any endorsements be inferred by HRSA, HHS or the U.S. Government.
* Yale School of Public Health, Office of Public Health Practice, a New England Public Health Training Center partner, is a designated provider of continuing education contact hours (CECH) in health education by the National Commission for Health Education Credentialing, Inc. All CHES credit inquiries are managed by YSPH