The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA

Abstract #62919

R. Maude Guerrier, Health Promotion, Cambridge Health Alliance, 230 Highland Avenue, SON room 602B, Somerville, MA 02143, 617-591-6939, rguerrier@challiance.org

Cambridge Health Alliance (CHA) is a partnership among the public health department of Cambridge, Massachusetts and several local hospitals serving the Cambridge, Somerville, and Everett communities. CHA is the local safety net provider, and perhaps the premier source of care for immigrants in the greater Boston area. This session will describe one of its programs, the Volunteer Health Advisor (VHA) Program, which was developed as part of the 100% Access, 0 Disparities campaign of the CHA department of Community Affairs. The purpose of the program is to increase access to preventive healthcare services and reduce health disparities among underserved racial and ethnic groups. VHAs provide information and referrals through individual and group educational sessions for people with or at risk for chronic diseases, the uninsured, and underinsured. They also refer community members to Community Health Workers for enrollment and connection to primary care. VHAs are an integral part of their communities, and can reach the most "hard to reach" segments of the community. The VHA program was initially launched in the Haitian Creole-speaking communities in Somerville and Everett. Volunteers were recruited from three churches. This interfaith group received twenty hours of basic training on key health issues facing low-income, underserved populations, health education, and access to free and low cost health insurance to enable them to become ambassadors of health within their communities. The VHA program is currently being expanded in the Haitian community, and new volunteers are being recruited from the Brazilian and African-American communities.

Learning Objectives:

• 1) Learn how collaborating with faith-based organizations for outreach can help safety-net providers bring health education to hard-to-reach and underserved populations
• 2) Learn how to maximize scarce resources by using a volunteer workforce for health education and outreach

Keywords: Outreach Programs, Community-Based Partnership

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.

Handout (.ppt format, 207.0 kb)