The following words and terms, when used in this chapter, shall have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

1. (1) Administrator--The department employee designated as the administrator of regulatory activities authorized by the Health and Safety Code, Chapter 48.
2. (2) Applicant--A promotor(a) or community health worker who applies to the Department of State Health Services for a certificate of competence; an instructor who applies to the department to train promotores or community health workers; or a sponsoring organization who applies to the department to offer training approved by the department to train promotores or community health workers.
3. (3) HHSC--The Texas Health and Human Services Commission.
4. (4) Certificate--Certificate issued to a promotor(a) or community health worker or instructor by the Department of State Health Services.
5. (5) Committee--The Promotor(a) or Community Health Worker Training and Certification Advisory Committee established by §146.2 of this title.
6. (6) Core Competencies--Key skills for promotores or community health workers required for certification by the department, including communication skills, interpersonal skills, knowledge base on specific health issues, service coordination skills, capacity-building skills, advocacy skills, teaching skills, and organizational skills.
7. (7) Department--The Department of State Health Services.
8. (8) Distance Learning--The acquisition of knowledge and skills through mediated information and instruction, encompassing all technologies and other forms of learning at a distance.
9. (9) Executive Commissioner--Executive Commissioner of the Health and Human Services Commission.
10. (10) Health--A state of complete physical, mental and social well-being where an individual or group is able to realize aspirations and satisfy needs, and to change or cope with the environment. Health is a resource for everyday life, not the objective of living; it is a positive concept emphasizing social and personal resources as well as physical capabilities. This definition is from the World Health Organization, "Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion, 1986."
11. (11) Certified Instructor--An individual approved by the department to provide instruction and training in one or more core competencies to promotores or community health workers.
12. (12) "Promotor(a)" or "Community Health Worker"--A person who, with or without compensation is a liaison and provides cultural mediation between health care and social services, and the community. A promotor(a) or community health worker: is a trusted member, and has a close understanding of, the ethnicity, language, socio-economic status, and life experiences of the community served. A promotor(a) or community health worker assists people to gain access to needed services and builds individual, community, and system capacity by increasing health knowledge and self-sufficiency through a range of activities such as outreach, patient navigation and follow-up, community health education and information, informal counseling, social support, advocacy, and participation in clinical research.
13. (13) Sponsoring organization--An organization approved by the department to deliver a certified training curriculum to promotores or community health workers or instructors.
14. (14) Certified Training Curriculum--An educational, community health training curriculum approved by the department for the purpose of training promotores or community health workers or instructors.

Source Note:The provisions of this §146.1 adopted to be effective July 20, 2000, 25 TexReg 6708; amended to be effective December 1, 2003, 28 TexReg 10226; amended to be effective January 17, 2006, 31 TexReg 289; amended to be effective October 24, 2010, 35 TexReg 9287.