Recorded presentation

Lori Miller Nascimento, MPH, Department of Family Medicine, Division of Community Health, University of Southern California, Keck School of Medicine, 3716 South Hope Street, Suite 233, Los Angeles, CA 90007, (213)743-1589, lorimill@usc.edu, Ana C. Canjura, BA, Community Health and Social Epidemiology Programs, California State University, Long Beach, 5500 Atherton Street, Suite 400, Long Beach, CA 90815, C. Kevin Malotte, DrPH, Health Science Department, California State University, Long Beach, 5500 Atherton Street, Suite 400, Long Beach, CA 90815, Michael Cousineau, DrPH, School of Family Medicine, Division of Community Health, University of Southern California, Keck School of Medicine, 3375 S. Hoover St., Ste. H201b, Los Angeles, CA 90007, and Claudia Marin, Community Health Leader, 516 West 11th Street, Long Beach, CA 90813.

How are volunteer community health workers different from other workers? Would getting paid make a difference in the retention, participation and satisfaction of health workers? While there is little dispute about the value of community health workers, there is not a lot of data revealing how and why they continue to serve their communities. A partnership among two universities and several community-based organizations in Los Angeles County seek to answer these questions. This CDC-funded, community-based participatory research study is comparing feedback from approximately 30 volunteer community health workers (“leaders”) in Long Beach (study group), who will receive both monetary and non-monetary incentives for their work, with 28 leaders in the San Gabriel Valley who are not given an incentive (control group). We are also examining the “natural history” of health leader retention, participation and satisfaction. Every six months, a “leadership” questionnaire is administered to the same participants to track their satisfaction, attitudes, participation and intentions as community health leaders. Demographically, the two groups of leaders are similar, with more than 80% women, 80% Latino, and many with less than a high school education level. Both groups have also identified similar topics to address within their respective communities, such as mental health, sexuality, nutrition and physical activity. Health leaders provide information through informal communications as well as by conducting workshops. This presentation will examine key variables around satisfaction, attitudes and participation among the two groups of community health workers and will help us determine if monetary incentives play a role in the retention and productivity of these health leaders. A community health leader will co-present.

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