Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #105470

Richard L. Lichtenstein, PhD, Health Management and Policy, University of Michigan, 109 S. Observatory, School of Public Health, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2029, 734 936-1316, lichto@umich.edu, Penni Johnson, Eastside Access Partnership, Harper/Gratiot Multi-Service Center, 9641 Harper, Detroit, MI 48213, Jerutha Kennedy, Harper/Gratiot MultiService Center, Neighborhood Service Organization, 9641 Harper, Detroit, MI 48213, Ellen D.S. Lopez, PhD, Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, University of Florida College of Public Health and Health Professions, P.O. Box 100165 (101 S. Newell Drive, Room 3151), Gainesville, FL 32610-3151, Alonzo Lewis, MHSA, Root Learning®, Inc., 1715 Indian Wood Circle, Suite 200, Maumee, OH 43537, Joy Calloway, MHSA, MBA, Metro Healthcare Services, Inc., 243 W. Congress, Suite 350, Detroit, MI 48226, and Rev. Rochelle Allen, MPA, Inkster District - Wayne County FIA, 2700 Hamlin Drive, Detroit, MI 48215.

The Eastside Access Partnership is a community-based participatory research (CBPR) effort affiliated with the Detroit Community-Academic Urban Research Center. The goal of the Partnership is to enroll low-income children on Detroit's Eastside in Medicaid. An estimated 3000 children in this community are uninsured even though virtually all of them are eligible for coverage. Based on evidence regarding barriers to enrolling children identified through national survey data and six community focus groups, the partnership developed a multi-faceted intervention strategy designed to address multiple barriers. Two aspects of the intervention will be discussed: one aimed at creating institutional change in the state welfare agency; and, another that focuses on changing individual attitudes and behaviors about health insurance among parents. The institutional change strategy involved a six-session training program designed to improve the quality of services provided by case workers in local welfare offices. The individual level change strategy employed a highly innovative learning technology, the Learning Map©, to educate parents about the importance of working with the welfare agency to obtain insurance coverage for their children. The evaluation design and results of the overall impact of these interventions on enrollment rates will be discussed. The positive results of these efforts were conveyed to state welfare officials, who endorsed both organizational policies to expand the quality service training to other welfare staff and the dissemination of the Learning Map© to other communities. The synergistic effects of combining interventions aimed at service delivery and policy development with the principles of CBPR will be examined.

Learning Objectives: