Innovative ways to involve community health workers in the evaluation of a chronic disease prevention and management program for Russian-speaking immigrants

Presenters will describe the comprehensive, culturally-appropriate chronic disease prevention and management project, “Let's Be Healthy!” which was developed in response to a community assessment among Russian-speaking immigrants in San Francisco. Project components include a social marketing campaign, community-based activity and health education sessions, clinic-based chronic care management groups, and leadership development. Evaluation processes and tools for each of these project components will be discussed with a focus on strategies to involve community health workers and community leaders in the development and implementation of the evaluation. Community health workers will share information on their involvement in the project evaluation development, implementation and modifications, and the critical role they play in educating project participants about the importance of evaluation. The presentation also will include a discussion of the challenges and importance of translation and interpretation of tools, both linguistically and socio-culturally. Key evaluation findings and recommendations from the first two years of the project will be shared, along with methods used for conveying this information to project staff, participants and collaborators who subsequently made modifications to the project approach and activities. Challenges, rewards and recommendations for developing and implementing a comprehensive evaluation in a community-based project led by refugee community health workers for non English-speaking immigrants will be highlighted from the perspectives of community health workers, project managers and the evaluation consultant.