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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Recorded presentation

Heather A. Davis, MPH, Director, Alaska Native CVD Prevention Program, Chugachmiut Native Organization, 1840 S. Bragaw Street, Suite 110, Anchorage, AK 99508 and Sue Steward, CWA/CHP, Community Wellness Advocate/Community Health Practitioner, Chugachmiut Native Organization, P.O. Box 2088, Seward, AK 99664, 907-224-3490, Sue@Chugachmiut.org.

Providing health services in remote Alaska Native communities is a difficult task. Through the use of Community Wellness Advocates (CWAs), trained community-based public health promotion paraprofessionals, remote villages in the Chugach region of Alaska have worked to address the problem of increasing rates of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Working in conjunction with a CVD prevention program, CWAs have developed awareness of CVD by promoting health behavior changes. CVD awareness activities vary in each community of the 15,000 square mile region, but include CVD education and promoting healthy lifestyles through exercise programs, nutrition information and tobacco cessation. By having CWAs working in their communities, community members have become more aware of CVD and have started to adopt healthy lifestyle changes. Evaluation of the program has been accomplished through: (1) community event evaluations which measure the levels of participation in prevention activities, (2) Pre/Post tests designed to measure the level of awareness of various CVD risk factors, and (3) monthly “Take the Idita-Heart Challenge” Calendar cards. All evaluation tools were designed with input from the CWAs. Without CWAs in the Alaska Native villages served by the project, there would be no program. Community Wellness Advocates are truly a community-based intervention to help eliminate heart disease and stroke disparities. This session will be presented by a Chugachmiut CWA who is actively working in all Chugach region communities as both a CWA and Community Health Practitioner (CHP). As part of the presentation, the 2006 “Take the Iditaheart Challenge” Calendar will be handed out and discussed.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session, participants in this session will be able to

(
• recognize the difficult climate for providing health services in rural Alaska Native communities, (
• identify ways Community Wellness Advocates can be effective in creating behavioral changes, (
• describe benefits, with respect to cardiovascular disease prevention, in using Community Wellness Advocates, and (
• assess the use of program evaluation tools to measure the impact of the work Community Wellness Advocates are providing on the well being of their communities.

Keywords: Community-Based Health Promotion, Alaska Natives

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No

Recorded presentation