The Community Wellness Advocate (CWA) Training Program was developed to create a cadre of trained community health promoters to provide health promotion services in the isolated, underserved and largely Native villages of Alaska. For decades, allied health professionals have been effectively deployed to provide basic medical care in Alaska. However, data gathered on the health status of Native and non-Native Alaskans shows that the primary causes of premature death, illness and injury cannot be addressed by just providing rural Alaskans with access to medical care. To address behavioral risk factors of premature death and illness, remote Alaskan communities also need local health promotion programs. Thus, the role of the CWA is to work with other community residents to design and conduct health promotion interventions.
The CWA Training Program is a model of a distance-delivered, relevant and academically sound preparation program for people, isolated from higher education, who wish to work as community health promoters. The year-long training program collaborates with the University of Alaska Southeast-Sitka to deliver three college courses. Upon program completion, CWA students earn twelve college credits, which may be applied towards a degree at the University.
The skill-based courses focus on public health concepts, models of individual behavior change, group and community health promotion, and methods of instruction. In addition to course work, students must conduct a minimum of six interventions in their communities. All recent graduates have found employment as community health workers or received grants to provide health promotion services in their communities.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Underserved Populations, Community Health Promoters
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium and University of Alaska Southeast,Sitka Campus- Distance Education Program
I have a significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.
Relationship: Presenter currently employed by Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium (SEARHC)on an intermittant basis. Also SEARHC has previously employed presenter on a full-time basis.