Learn It
Live It
Share ItSafety, Law and Self-Care
in the Academy
🛡️ Welcome, future CHW!
HIPAA, mandated reporting, field safety and caring for yourself. This unit is 8 hours of CHW Pro training across video lessons, group practice, this eBook and the Qwest station.
By the end you can
- Protect health information using HIPAA basics and minimum necessary
- Explain mandated reporting and follow your state's law and your organization's policy
- Use field safety and self-care practices
AZ core competencies: Knowledge base; Professional skills and conduct
Safety, Law and Self-Care
HIPAA basics
If you work for a clinic, hospital or health plan, HIPAA rules apply to you. Protect health information on paper, screens and phones. Use only the minimum necessary. Never talk about clients in public or on personal social media.
Confidentiality and its limits
Tell clients at the start what stays private and what you must share: safety emergencies and possible abuse or neglect. Never promise to keep everything secret.
Mandated reporting
Every state has laws about reporting child abuse and the abuse or neglect of vulnerable adults. Who must report depends on your state and your role. Follow your state's law and your organization's policy, tell your supervisor, and do not investigate on your own.
Safety, Law and Self-Care continued
Field safety
Share your visit schedule, keep your phone charged, park where you can leave easily, and trust your instincts. If a visit feels unsafe, end it politely and leave. Report it to your supervisor.
Self-care is part of the job
Hearing hard stories can cause burnout and compassion fatigue. Use supervision, peer support, time off and your employee assistance program if you have one. Caring for yourself lets you keep caring for others.
Words CHWs Use
Health information that can identify a person, protected by HIPAA.
Using or sharing only the health information needed for the task.
A person required by state law to report suspected abuse or neglect.
Emotional and physical exhaustion from caring for people in distress.
What Ms. Green told you
On a home visit, Ms. Green, 79, has bruises on her arms. She seems nervous when her adult son walks by, and whispers, "Please don't tell anyone."
Your CHW steps
- Stay calm, listen and thank her for telling you
- Be honest that you cannot keep safety concerns secret
- If she is in immediate danger, call 911
- Tell your supervisor and follow your state's reporting law and your organization's policy
- Write down only the facts you saw and heard, and follow up
In the Qwest, the steps are shuffled. Put them in the best order to help the client and earn your LIVE It coins.
Keep going: Safety, Law and Self-Care
The rest of this eBook — the scenario, unit check, Qwest lab, practicum log and answer key.
Get this eBook · $9.99All 12 eBooks + Ambassador membership · $49CHW Pro learners and Ambassadors: this series is included.Sign in to unlockCheck Your CHW Skills
- Use or share only the information needed for the task
- Share everything with everyone
- Never write anything down
- Share only with family
- Promise
- Explain the limits of confidentiality
- Refuse to talk
- Tell them to ask someone else
- Investigate it yourself
- Post about it
- Follow your state's law and your organization's policy and tell your supervisor
- Ignore it
- Stay to finish the paperwork
- Hide in another room
- Argue with the person
- End the visit politely, leave and tell your supervisor
- Supervision, peer support and time off
- Skipping breaks
- Working every weekend
- Keeping feelings to yourself
Answers are on page 11. In the Qwest this is the Boss Quiz — score 80% to earn the station badge.
Keep going: Safety, Law and Self-Care
The rest of this eBook — the scenario, unit check, Qwest lab, practicum log and answer key.
Get this eBook · $9.99All 12 eBooks + Ambassador membership · $49CHW Pro learners and Ambassadors: this series is included.Sign in to unlockStation 12 Qwest Lab
Every challenge uses this unit. Each one earns Live It coins and moves you toward the next CHW rank.
Keep going: Safety, Law and Self-Care
The rest of this eBook — the scenario, unit check, Qwest lab, practicum log and answer key.
Get this eBook · $9.99All 12 eBooks + Ambassador membership · $49CHW Pro learners and Ambassadors: this series is included.Sign in to unlockTeach It Forward
The fastest way to master a skill is to teach it. Your Share It challenge:
- Write your own self-care plan with two things you will do after a hard day, and share one.
- Use teach-back: ask them to explain it in their own words.
- Post what you learned (no client names) in your group or the Share It Studio to earn SHARE It coins.
Keep going: Safety, Law and Self-Care
The rest of this eBook — the scenario, unit check, Qwest lab, practicum log and answer key.
Get this eBook · $9.99All 12 eBooks + Ambassador membership · $49CHW Pro learners and Ambassadors: this series is included.Sign in to unlockRecord What Changed
Log one row per client goal during your practicum (up to 130 hours). A site supervisor initials each row. Record counts and minutes, never private health details.
| Date | Client goal (no names) | C3 role | Outcome | Minutes | Supervisor |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Outcome codes: SC screening completed · RM referral made · RC referral closed (loop confirmed) · AK appointment kept · CB coverage or benefits application submitted · HE health education delivered.
Keep going: Safety, Law and Self-Care
The rest of this eBook — the scenario, unit check, Qwest lab, practicum log and answer key.
Get this eBook · $9.99All 12 eBooks + Ambassador membership · $49CHW Pro learners and Ambassadors: this series is included.Sign in to unlockAnswer Key
- A. Use or share only the information needed for the task — Use only what the task needs.
- B. Explain the limits of confidentiality — Be honest about the limits up front.
- C. Follow your state's law and your organization's policy and tell your supervisor — Report as your state and organization require. Do not investigate.
- D. End the visit politely, leave and tell your supervisor — Your safety comes first.
- A. Supervision, peer support and time off — Self-care keeps you able to help others.
Source: Community Health Worker Pro, Force for Health Academy (2026). CHW certification, scope and payment rules vary by state and change; check your state's current rules. CHW Pro is a training program, not a state certification.
Keep going: Safety, Law and Self-Care
The rest of this eBook — the scenario, unit check, Qwest lab, practicum log and answer key.
Get this eBook · $9.99All 12 eBooks + Ambassador membership · $49CHW Pro learners and Ambassadors: this series is included.Sign in to unlock12 units. 160 hours.
Each eBook pairs with a video lesson in the Force for Health Academy and a station in the CHW Qwest.
theforce.health/community-health-worker · FFH Virtual LibraryKeep going: Safety, Law and Self-Care
The rest of this eBook — the scenario, unit check, Qwest lab, practicum log and answer key.
Get this eBook · $9.99All 12 eBooks + Ambassador membership · $49CHW Pro learners and Ambassadors: this series is included.Sign in to unlock