Pear Suite Partners with Community-based Organizations to Launch Statewide Training Initiative for Community Health Workers Supported by Caring4Cal Grant

March 20, 2024 at 11:00 AM EDT

Pear Suite, a healthcare company working to empower community health workers (CHWs) and better address the social determinants of health (SDOH), announced they are participating in the California Department of Health Care Access and Information (HCAI)’s statewide training program, Caring4Cal. Caring4Cal is an innovative workforce development program aimed at expanding, enhancing, and strengthening the state's Home-and-Community-Based Services (HCBS) workforce.

Caring4Cal is dedicated to meeting the unique healthcare requirements of rural communities, children with complex medical conditions, individuals with disabilities, and older adults within the Medi-Cal population. HCAI has endorsed 21 Grantee Training Partners, including Pear Suite, to deliver complimentary training courses in various languages, available both in-person and online. Pear Suite currently serves one third of the Medi-Cal population and is committed to empowering, upskilling, and supporting the CHW workforce by partnering with local community-based organizations to offer soft-skills training courses open to any CHWs in California serving diverse populations.

“Traditionally, healthcare in the U.S. has centered upon medical procedures, medication prescriptions and sending patients to institutionalized care settings to treat illnesses. However, a better understanding of SDOH - such as food access, housing transportation, education, social connectivity, etc. - and the crucial role they play in a person’s wellbeing and health outcomes has shifted perspectives and changed the way care is managed and delivered,” said Colby Takeda, CEO and co-founder of Pear Suite. “We recognize the importance of empowering and uplifting the frontline public health workforce to address SDOH in a culturally sensitive, person-centered way. We anticipate our training initiative will benefit over 1,000 CHWs, and we greatly appreciate the HCAI’s support in making this possible.”

To date, the Caring4Cal program has awarded $1,600,000 in incentives to more than 9,000 learners to enhance their knowledge and expand this segment of the health workforce, and the program is still enrolling new applicants. Current and aspiring licensed or certified healthcare providers and CHWs/Promotores/Representatives will have access to hundreds of free training courses to enhance their skills, knowledge and professional growth in HCBS. Pear Suite’s courses include cross-cultural communications, LGBTQ+ affirming care, Medi-Cal reimbursement, motivational interviewing, and working across diverse communities. The program runs through May 2024.

To learn more or apply, please visit Caring California.

About Pear Suite

Pear Suite is a digital health company that empowers community health workers to address the social determinants of health (SDOH). Through Pear Suite’s social care navigation platform, health plans, providers, and community-based organizations can boost member engagement, improve health outcomes, and reduce the cost of care in a person-centered, culturally, and linguistically centered way. Pear Suite has supported dozens of organizations and impacted more than 25,000 lives by driving improvements that are often overlooked in the healthcare landscape. The company’s unique ability to combine software with tech-enabled services is significantly impactful for older adults, ethnic minority groups, and other medically-underserved groups. For more information, please visit pearsuite.com or follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.