The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA
4025.0: Tuesday, November 12, 2002 - Board 3

Abstract #41241

Strengthening the capacity of Family Health Advocates to deliver services that promote the reduction of heatlh disparities

Gloria Palmisano, BS, MA, Community Health & Social Services Center, Inc., 5635 W. Fort Street, Detroit, MI 48209, (313) 843-3255, palmisanogl@hotmail.com

REACH Detroit Partnership provides inter-related family, health system, social support, and community interventions to reduce disparities in diabetes among African-Americans and Latinos in eastside and southwest Detroit. The partnership is a collaborative between five community-based organizations, three health systems, the Detroit Health Department, the Michigan Department of Community Health, and the University of Michigan School of Public Health. One project aim is to increase the knowledge and skills of persons with diabetes, their family members and their health care providers to obtain resources to change risk/protective factors associated with diabetes and its complications. Family Health Advocates (FHA) are community residents who were trained to work full-time with families and care providers, conducting interviews, home/clinic visits, case management, family education, support groups and other activities. This presentation will discuss the challenges in preparing FHAs for their role in the community, training needs of FHAs, and issues that must be addressed in order to build a unified/effective work team. FHA training included diabetes and its self-management; how to implement “empowerment education” with families to make interactions with health care providers more efficacious; community outreach worker training; how to locate/utilize other community resources; group facilitation; computer/internet training; and human enhancement skills. Challenges included providing training to a staff who’s primary language differed, addressing ethnic stereotypes and tensions, fostering stronger work ethics, and building trust/teamwork among FHA’s and staff from diverse ethnic, social and geographic backgrounds. This presentation focuses on lessons learned during the initial phase of the project relating to staff training/development.

Learning Objectives:

    3. Participants will learn about the challenges confronting the REACH Detroit Partnership’s managers and Family Health Advocates (FHA) as the FHAs prepare for their role in addressing health disparities in diabetes among African American and Hispanic populations. Participants will be informed about the comprehensive training needs of community health workers, and about the personal and personnel issues that must be addressed in order to build a unified and effective work team. Participants will learn how REACH Detroit Partnership FHAs participated in the initial implementation phase of the project that provided additional professional development opportunities for the FHAs.
    6. Participants will be able to describe challenges faced by managers and the FHAs and identify ways to deal with the challenges. Attendees will be able to list training topics crucial to the skill development of CHWs who are addressing diabetes in the African American and Hispanic populations. Participants will be able to describe issues that may jeopardize the effectiveness of the CHW. Participants will be able to assess ways in which CHW can develop professional skills within the project or organization.
    9. At the conclusion of the session, the participant in this session will be able to

  • Presenting author's disclosure statement:
    I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.

    Community Health Workers addressing health disparities

    The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA