How To Become A Health Outreach Worker: What It Is and Career Path

What is a health outreach worker and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted expert

Debra Minsky-Kelly

Health outreach workers are the ones who provide resources and stress management for people with mental health issues and are accountable to the senior outreach agent, community service officer, or the community mental health officer. They generally teach a community about health threats. They often recognize individuals' unique health needs in the neighborhood and visit their homes to provide assistance or information.

Typically, those health outreach workers who do attend college and earn either social work degrees or psychology degrees. Less commonly earned degrees for health outreach workers include nursing degrees or business degrees.

According to BLS, those who approach this field end up laying claim to annual earnings at $30,231. The current median pay for a health outreach worker ranges from $24,000 to $37,000 in the U.S. However, this figure can vary significantly depending upon your experience and skills.

What general advice would you give to a health outreach worker?

Debra Minsky-Kelly

Director of Field Education / Clinical Assistant Professor of Social Work, Carthage College

I think there are two critical skills for social workers, whether they are first entering the workforce or seasoned professionals. These skills are humility and an appreciation for ambiguity in our work. A humble approach to our work empowers clients to become experts on their circumstances. Social workers are then positioned in a collaborative role to help clients use existing skills and resources to improve their situations. An appreciation for ambiguity is closely related to the idea of humility. It helps us to remember that practice situations we face in this field are often far more complicated than they appear on the surface. Thus, all social workers need to make a strong commitment to lifelong learning and ongoing consultation with colleagues to ensure that multiple perspectives are included as we work to solve complex problems.

ScoreHealth Outreach WorkerUS Average

Salary

2.5

Avg. Salary $32,129

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.1

Growth rate 12%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

10.0

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 1.45%

Asian 6.70%

Black or African American 11.98%

Hispanic or Latino 22.11%

Unknown 6.44%

White 51.32%

Gender

female 74.67%

male 25.33%

Age - 42

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 42

Stress level

7.1

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.1

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

7.9

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a health outreach worker

Explore health outreach worker education requirements

Most common health outreach worker degrees

Bachelor's

62.5 %

Associate

12.6 %

Master's

11.4 %

Start to develop specific health outreach worker skills

Skills	Percentages
Patients	9.74%
Community Health	9.64%
Social Work	7.70%
Rehabilitation	6.13%
Crisis Intervention	5.37%

Complete relevant health outreach worker training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New health outreach workers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a health outreach worker based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real health outreach worker resumes.

Research health outreach worker duties and responsibilities

Manage large databases, analyze records, perform literature reviews, prepare PowerPoint presentations, and interpret data for publication.
Deliver direct services to children with autism by executing individualize plans, completing necessary documentation and communication effectively with team.
Maintain privacy and confidentiality of participants and employee information following HIPPA and company guidelines.

Prepare your health outreach worker resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your health outreach worker resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a health outreach worker resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable health outreach worker resume templates

Build a professional health outreach worker resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your health outreach worker resume.