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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Carolina Casares, MD, MPH, community voices-national center for preimary care, morehouse school of medicine, 720 westview dr. suite 216B S.W, atlanta, GA 30310, 4042896828, ccasares@msm.edu and Marguerite Ro, DrPH, Division of Community Health, Columbia University CDM, 601 West 168th Street, Suite 35, New York, NY 10032.

It has been a long journey from the act of defining the various roles CHWs have as public health advocates and patient navigators, to implementing initiatives and even fostering coordination of these efforts in several states. There are several organizations working towards establishing CHWs as integral pieces of the health care delivery system but there is still a lack of coordination between these groups. Anecdotal evidence shows Little if any evidence based studies that demonstrate the added value through cost savings and improved health outcomes or the impact that CHWs have on the health care delivery system exist. The Community Voices learning laboratories have been working for the past six years on developing the "evidence" base for the innovative use of community health workers in outreach and case management, while documenting and attempting to evaluate the impact of several of its programs on the health & well-being of the community served. Our goal is to achieve broad recognition of community health workers (CHWs) as part of the integrated healthcare delivery system and to bring together the collective voices of those working in the field. This session will discuss individual and collective stories about CHWs by CHWs, allow project directors of four Community Voices Sites located in Miami, FL., Albuquerque, NM., Denver, CO., and Northern Manhattan, NY, to share and connect with others in the field through discussion and dialogue in a roundtable fashion, what is possible, and discuss next steps toward truly integrating CHWs into the health care system.

Learning Objectives:

• • Discuss individual and collective stories of
• how CHWs have been successful in building
• health
• • Describe lessons learned in the field by CHWs
• • Discuss examples of CHW initiatives across the
• country.
• • Analyze next steps
• • Development of policy initiatives.

Keywords: Community Health Promoters, Health Care Delivery

Related Web page: www.communityvoices.org

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Not Answered