Impact of CHW Certification on Team Climate in Texas - Grandfathering versus State Certified Training

Purpose: This study compared the perceptions of team climate among Texas Community Health Workers (CHWs) who were certified based on experience or grandfathering to those who had completed a CHW certification program from a post-secondary institution such as a community college, technical school, or other state-certified training programs in Texas. Methods: Study participants were recruited though emails and snowball sampling. CHW\u27s perception of team climate was assessed using the Team Climate Inventory Short Form (TCI-SF) which consists of 19 questions related to four factors: Participation, Support for Innovation, Team Objectives, and Task Orientation (Kivimäki and Elovainio, 1999). Results: No significant differences were found for independent demographic variables between the two study groups. Results of non-parametric tests for the survey data found no significant differences in mean TCI-SF scores between the two groups. Clinical Relevance: This research found that there were no significant differences in the perceptions of team climate between CHWs who are certified through a grandfathering process (i.e., prior work experience) and those who have completed a state CHW certification training program in Texas. The study suggests that both methods of certification resulted in similar perceptions of team climate among CHWs working in health care settings