Connecting Communication Competencies to Public Health Practice: Community Health Workers as Non-Traditional Risk Communicators

Public health crises depend on trusted community-based workers who interpret guidance, address local concerns, and help residents act under uncertainty. Existing crisis communication frameworks, including Crisis and Emergency Risk Communication (CERC) and Risk Communication and Community Engagement (RCCE), recognize the importance of community-centered approaches but offer limited guidance on what this work requires in practice. This study examined how community health workers (CHWs) serving Latine communities developed and applied communication competencies during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. We conducted two rounds of in-depth interviews with 41 CHWs in a large U.S. metropolitan area, capturing experiences across response and recovery contexts. Using thematic analysis with a hybrid deductive-inductive approach, we identified six communication competencies: (1) information seeking, sensemaking, and verification; (2) strategic communication and message design; (3) conversational and cultural interaction; (4) digital and media communication; (5) collaborative and team-based communication; and (6) system navigation and resource linkage. CHWs combined these competencies as coordinated practice rather than discrete skills. Findings extend CERC and RCCE by translating broad principles into teachable practices and provide a foundation for strengthening CHW training, supervision, and integration into emergency communication preparedness, particularly for linguistically and culturally diverse communities.