Data management and evaluation for a large-scale Community Health Worker project

The Denver VB/I-70 Health Program (CHP) was an EPA-sponsored environmental Superfund Site outreach program employing the community health worker (CHW) model to communicate and educate site residents. The three-year program (2004-2007) was designed to visit each site residence once per year for three years. A residence was required to be contacted three separate times before the home could be deemed “unable to contact” for an annual visit by the CHP. The site included 4500 residential properties, with a dozen CHWs canvassing door-to-door year round. The program used a Microsoft Access program to store, manage, and analyze field and evaluation data. Canvassing data were dynamically reviewed to focus the geographic, temporal, and linguistic aspects of the canvassing strategy. GIS maps were employed to visual progress. PDA's were employed in parts of the program to electronically collect field data to increase efficiency and limit paperwork. Lead-poisoning prevention behaviors were gauged by CHWs during outreach visits; post visit behaviors were gauged during post-visit phone surveys. Behaviors were gauged a third time during second visits to homes. Evaluation data were analyzed to assess the degree of behavior change. Evaluation data were also collected relevant to CHW professionalism, helpfulness of written outreach material, and resident-selected topics for future visits. This program offers insight and practical how-to advice on the collection and management of CHW-collected data, small or large volume, and outreach evaluation data, as well as the electronic collection and dynamic use of data to focus daily work and program achievements.