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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Sally Fontamillas Shaw, DrPH, Bruce Nelson, MA, and Anna Karapetyan, BS. Community Services, Glendale Adventist Medical Center, 1509 Wilson Terrace, Glendale, CA 91206, 818-409-8547, shawsf@ah.org

To serve the largest population of Armenians outside of Armenia-Russia, Glendale Adventist Medical Center (GAMC) has developed the Hearts N' Health Program, a Promotoras-based program that has trained more than two-dozen Armenian-speaking women to become community health educators (CHEs) and provide cardiovascular health education and resources for the Armenian community of Glendale, California. Armenian is the primary language spoken by the majority of the Armenian immigrants and by virtually all of the 30,000 low-income and uninsured Armenians. The CHEs have conducted more than 1000 presentations regarding heart disease, nutrition, physical activity, and stress. Nearly 8,000 Armenian residents have been reached in private homes, adult day care centers, and churches. The Hearts N' Health Program works closely with the GAMC Cardiovascular Disease Risk Screening Program, in which participants also complete a risk screening survey to determine their cardiac risk. If they are found at-risk, they are scheduled for a free risk assessment (funded by a Unihealth Foundation grant) to measure blood pressure, cholesterol, and C-reactive protein (CRP) levels. High-risk participants are provided with case management into follow-up medical care and risk reduction resources. An ongoing evaluation of the Hearts N' Health Program has shown increased knowledge in health issues, as well as increased satisfaction with the program. Approximately 90% have indicated positive changes in health behavior. Furthermore, the integration of public health, through the use of CHEs, into a traditional health care system has shown improvements in health access and outcomes. One CHE will describe her story as participant and CHE.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session, the participant (learner) in this session will be able to

• Discuss the integration of CHW programs into a traditional health care system.
• Apply lessons learned from an Armenian Promotoras program to their own community outreach projects.
• Discuss strategies for integrating cardiovascular risk screening with community health outreach activities.

Keywords: Community Health Promoters, Heart Disease

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Not Answered