---
id: "coronavirus-smarter-crowdsourcing:strategies/Use-technology-to-train-community-health-workers-a"
type: "GovLab policy strategy"
title: "Use technology to train community health workers and other healthcare providers who may have no experience…"
url: "https://coronavirus.smartercrowdsourcing.org/strategies/use-technology-to-train-community-health-workers-a"
summary: "Use technology to train community health workers and other healthcare providers who may have no experience in mental healthcare and mental first aid"
source: "The GovLab (coronavirus.smartercrowdsourcing.org)"
licence: "Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)"
---

# Use technology to train community health workers and other healthcare providers who may have no experience…

Use technology to train community health workers and other healthcare providers who may have no experience in mental healthcare and mental first aid

- Timeframe: 1-3 Months (immediate)
- Audience: Healthcare Providers, Organized Civil Society, Nonprofits
- Type: Technology/Innovation, Partnerships, Capacity Building
- Recommendation: [Increase provider capacity](https://coronavirus.smartercrowdsourcing.org/recommendations/increase-provider-capacity)
- Part of: [Smarter Crowdsourcing in the Age of Coronavirus](https://coronavirus.smartercrowdsourcing.org/)

## Actions governments should take

1. Shortages of specialists in the settings that need support can be addressed by guiding non-specialists in a step-by-step way to deliver an evidence based intervention. Step-by-step guidelines ensure adherence to guidelines and also reduces stress on the provider.
2. Create repositories of existing mental health educational resources for people to use.
3. Translating resources from other languages is less resource and time intensive than creating them from scratch. Many resources are written in English but have not been translated into Spanish or other languages.
4. Identify cost effective means of translating existing resources from English or other languages into Spanish or Portuguese. Examples can include using students or bilingual individuals.
5. Adapt available open source manuals on how to adapt digital technology to train community health workers on psychological assessments, such as those provided by the digital training website of the Healthy Activity Program (HAP).

## Examples from around the world

1. The Faculties of Medicine, Psychology and Nursing of the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana have created [a platform and strategy](https://www.javeriana.edu.co/mentescolectivas/) that offers support and mental health counseling to Colombians of legal age. The platform allows individuals seeking support to select their preferred form of communication which include chat services, email, or phone calls. A group of student volunteers, [trained in mental health issues](https://www.javeriana.edu.co/mentescolectivas/), then reach out and speak with the individuals to listen and also recommend tools that can support an individual’s well-being. Pontificia Universidad Javeriana has also created [an information hub](https://www.javeriana.edu.co/mentalpuntodeapoyo/?page_id=2010) with tips and resources for individuals to proactively protect their mental health.