Other healthcare associate professionals

How to become a community health worker

Official title: Community health workers

Also called: Community health aide, Community health promoter, Community health worker, Village health worker

Community health workers provide health education, referral and follow-up, case management, basic preventive health care and home visiting services to specific communities. They provide support and assistance to individuals and families in navigating the health and social services system.

Main tasks

Providing information to families and communities on a range of health issues including nutrition, hygiene, infant and child care, immunizations, family planning, risk factors and prevention of common infectious diseases, poisoning prevention, first aid for treatment of simple and common ailments, substance abuse, domestic violence and other topics
Visiting families in their homes to provide information on the health, social and other services available and support them in gaining access to these services
Visiting families who do not usually access medical establishments to monitor on a regular basis certain conditions such as progress with pregnancy, child growth and development, and environmental sanitation
Distributing to households medical supplies for the prevention and treatment of endemic diseases such as malaria, pneumonia and diarrhoeal diseases, and instructing family and community members in the use of these products
Conducting outreach efforts to groups who do not usually access medical establishments with information and basic medical supplies for prevention and management of certain health conditions for which they are most at risk, such as HIV/AIDS and other communicable diseases
Collecting data from households and communities who do not usually access medical establishments for purposes of patient monitoring and referral and reporting to meet health regulations

Pay · Outlook · AI and this job

Median pay: HK$27,000 a month
About 1,542,900 people in 2025, and about 1,639,100 projected by 2028. (+6.2%)
Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.

Questions people ask

Do you need a degree to become a community health worker?

Not always. 35% of people in this job hold a bachelor's degree or higher.

Will AI change the work of a community health worker?

Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.

Sources

Census and Statistics Department (2021 Population Census): 2021 Population Census, Interactive Data Dissemination Service: working population by occupation (38 groups) and sex, age, education, income; median income and field of education (9 groups) (2021 Population Census), retrieved 4 October 2026
Census and Statistics Department (General Household Survey): Median monthly employment earnings by occupation (9 groups), excluding foreign domestic helpers (Table 210-06317A); employed persons by occupation, age and sex (210-06307A) and by industry (210-06308A) (2025 annual (series to 2026-07)), retrieved 4 October 2026
Labour and Welfare Bureau; tables published by C&SD: Mid-term Update of Manpower Projection to 2028: supplementary statistical tables (5 occupation groups, 17 selected industries) (2025 to 2028 (published 2026-09)), retrieved 4 October 2026
International Labour Organization, Generative AI and Jobs: A Refined Global Index of Occupational Exposure (ILO Working Paper 140, Gmyrek et al.) (ILO Working Paper 140, May 2025, Annex Table A1), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 4 October 2026

Updated 4 October 2026