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

Abstract #74582

Paul Philpot, MS and Susan Mayfield-Johnson, MPH, CHES. Center for Sustainable Health Outreach, University of Southern Mississippi, Box 10015, Hattiesburg, MS 39406, (601) 266-6709, paul.philpot@usm.edu

The Center for Sustainable Health Outreach (CSHO) has initiated the “Community Access to Care Community Health Worker Inventory Project.” Working with federal and other community-based organizations, CSHO has begun developing a national inventory of programs that involve community health workers (CHWs), including their evaluation methodologies, and an annotated bibliography of published articles describing CHW program evaluations. By the end of the two-year project, CSHO will develop • a comprehensive inventory of programs involving CHWs; • a comprehensive listing of current evaluation methodologies used by each CHW program site, along with all instruments currently used by programs; • an annotated bibliography of all published articles regarding CHW programs, with an analysis of their evaluation methods. The need for this project grew out of a realization that while several databases of selected CHW programs exist, the information is neither comprehensive nor easy to access. The databases created through this project will be very useful to a variety of users. For the first time, contact information about CHW programs will be available to those seeking to distribute information to, or collect information from, community health worker programs. States may find the information useful as they examine certification/licensure issues for both CHWs and CHW training programs, as well as for workforce projections. Organizations seeking to replicate pilot programs will also find this information valuable.

Learning Objectives:

1. Describe an overview of the Community Access to Care Community Health Worker Inventory Project 2. Understand how to be included in the inventory and what will be asked of collaborators during the data collecting process 3. Recognize that contact information about CHW programs will be available to those seeking to distribute information to, or collect information from, community health worker programs
• Discuss how the inventory information may be useful in examining certification/licensure issues for both CHWs and CHW training programs, as well as for workforce projections.

Keywords: Community Health Advisor, Evaluation

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I have a significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.
Relationship: Employment with project; grant funded by Kellogg