Health and Wellness Foundations
The core model
Community health workers operate from a wellness model, not just an illness model. Know the difference between health (a state of physical, mental, and social well-being) and wellness (an active, ongoing process of choices toward that state). Questions often test the social determinants of health - income, housing, food access, transportation, education, social support - and the trap is treating them as background rather than as drivers of outcomes. A CHW addresses them directly through navigation and referral.
Prevention levels
Be fluent in primary (prevent onset: immunizations, safe housing), secondary (detect early: screening, blood pressure checks), and tertiary (reduce complications: diabetes self-management support). The classic trap is labeling a screening program "primary prevention." Screening is secondary because disease may already be present but undetected.
Population and individual perspectives
Distinguish population health (aggregate outcomes and their distribution) from individual clinical care. CHWs bridge the two by connecting individuals to resources while noticing community-level patterns worth reporting.
Worked rule of thumb
When a scenario describes a person who cannot follow a care plan because of cost, distance, or housing instability, the best answer is usually the one that names the social barrier and connects the person to a resource - not the one that simply re-educates or urges willpower. Education alone does not remove a structural barrier.
Other concepts to know
Health equity versus equality (equal treatment versus fair treatment accounting for need), the difference between illness prevention and health promotion, and the role of community assets and strengths rather than deficits alone.