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

1. (1) Advisory Committee--Promotor(a) or Community Health Worker Training and Certification Advisory Committee.
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 that applies to the department to offer training approved by the department to train promotores or community health workers.
3. (3) Certificate--Certificate issued to a promotor(a) or community health worker, instructor or sponsoring organization by the Department of State Health Services.
4. (4) Commission--The Health and Human Services Commission.
5. (5) Commissioner--The Commissioner of the Department of State Health Services.
6. (6) Compensation--Includes receiving payment or receiving reimbursement for expenses.
7. (7) 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.
8. (8) Department--The Department of State Health Services.
9. (9) Distance Learning--The acquisition of knowledge and skills through mediated information and instruction, encompassing all technologies and other forms of learning at a distance.
10. (10) Executive Commissioner--Executive Commissioner of the Health and Human Services Commission.
11. (11) 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."
12. (12) 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.
13. (13) "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.
14. (14) Sponsoring organization--An organization approved by the department to deliver a certified training curriculum to promotores or community health workers or instructors.
15. (15) 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 June 24, 2015, 40 TexReg 3828.