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Abstract #162267

Kenneth Frausto, BS, Health Services, UCLA School of Public Health, 650 Charles E. Young Drive S, Room 16-035 Center for Health Sciences (CHS), Los Angeles, CA 90095-1772, 562-685-6721, kfrausto@ucla.edu, Kavita Patel, MD, MS, RAND Research Corporation, 1776 Main Street, PO Box 2138, Santa Monica, CA 90407-2138, and Kathryn Pitkin Derose, PhD, MPH, Health Program, RAND Corporation, 1776 Main Street, Santa Monica, CA 90407-2138.

Research Description: The Venice Family Clinic (VFC) partnered with a research organization (RAND) and another organization (Behavioral Health Services, Inc.) for a community assessment project to gain low-income residents' perspectives on health care needs and resources that could be mobilized to meet them. Study Design/Methods: We conducted 7 focus groups with low-income adults in the clinic's service areas (West Los Angeles, Inglewood). We used convenience sampling to identify potential participants and screened them by phone using eligibility criteria (income, neighborhood, race and when possible, no previous experience with the clinic). We used an open-ended focus group guide with questions on participants' communities, religion and spirituality, health needs, and access to care. Preliminary Findings: A total of 58 people participated (33% Latino and 46% African-American). Salient health needs included drug and gang violence prevention and better diabetes and hypertension management in communities of Latino and African-American participants. Some participants felt that, despite receiving high-quality care at VFC, much improvement was needed regarding long wait times. Additionally, non-Latino patients expressed feelings of discrimination by Latino clinic staff. Conclusions/Implications: Focus groups were an effective way to elicit community health needs, barriers in access to care, and perspectives of VFC, particularly because a clinic representative attended, but did not facilitate, the groups. This approach could be incorporated into quality improvement efforts particularly in neighborhoods of mixed Latino and African American ethnicity. To address the matters raised, well-developed systems of feedback are needed for clinic patients so that complaints can be voiced and managed effectively.

Learning Objectives:

• Evaluate methods in strategic planning, program development and program improvement in a clinic's service area or new health promotion area 2)Identify people, groups, strategies or approaches to improve marketing and outreach to new patients eligible for services at a low-cost clinic 3)Identify potential research questions and project opportunities for organizations in partnership with the community

Keywords: Access to Health Care, Community-Based Partnership

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No
Any institutionally-contracted trials related to this submission?

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.