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

Abstract #116773

Joel Piton, Prevention and Education Program Coordinator, Community Center for Health Education and Research, Inc, 420 Washington Street, Dorchester, MA 02124, 617-265-0628, jpiton@ccher.org and Gemima St. Louis, PhD, Director of Mental Health Training & Research, Boston University School of Medicine, S.P.A.R.K. Center /Boston Medical Center, 255 River Street, Boston, MA 02126.

The Center for Community Health Education and Research, Inc. is a Boston based health and social services agency serving the city's immigrant Haitian community. Its mission is to provide social services and education that meet the changing health needs of Boston's Haitian community. Its health education and prevention department has a comprehensive program train Haitian men and women adults to become peer educators using CCHER's "Volunteer Health Educator" model, conducts monthly radio talk shows on a variety of health issues, conducts street outreach, and provides individual screening and risk assessments. It brings health messages to people where they are at, using culturally appropriate strategies. This presentation will present findings and lessons learned from the Collaborative Tuberculosis Program, and Mental Health Program, explaining how lessons leared are being expanded to address other health issues. The TB program, a partnership involving community residents, providers and the Department of Health,is a placed-based social network model designed to both educate the community about specific health issues and connect them to health services using trained residents as educators, TB field workers and case managers. In 2004, 60 community resident Volunteer Health Educators were trained who in turn helped to educate several hundred people about HIV/AIDS, STDs and TB, and worked with those at risk to be screened for Latent TB Infection and where necessary start and complete the appropriate treatment. The Mental Health Program, a culturally-oriented mental health model,has been developed and implemented in Boston for Haitian individuals who are living with HIV/AIDS.

Learning Objectives: At the end of the session, participants will be able to

• Explain the components of the TB Collaborative Project, the strategies used to engage the community and the role of the volunteer health educator
• Describe a culturally-oriented mental health model that has been developed and implemented in Boston for Haitian individuals who are living with HIV/AIDS.
• Identify the key factors leading to program successes and the barriers that needed to be overcome
• Identify those aspects of the program that appear applicable to their community
• Identify initial steps necessary to adapt the Model to their community

Keywords: Cultural Competency, Public/Private Partnerships

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.