Building community connections: Outreach to the medically underserved

This presentation describes development, implementation and evaluation results of a model five-year community outreach initiative sponsored by the National Parkinson Foundation (NPF), which has built connections with medically underserved, diverse communities across the Nation. Focusing on documented health disparities in Parkinson disease (PD), we have worked with community networks to close the gap in awareness and access to quality care in ethnically and racially diverse populations in urban and rural regions. Parkinson, a neurodegenerative disorder, affects greater numbers of persons as the population ages, and is estimated to grow significantly in the next 25 years. Studies show that PD affects all racial and ethnic groups, many of whom cannot access needed information or quality care. Following a series of nationwide focus groups, NPF developed the Community Partners Program (CPP) which began in six regions and is now being expanded through partnering with national networks. Partnerships and coalitions have been formed with such groups as Area Health Education Centers (AHEC) and community health centers, which have their own infrastructure to work with underserved communities. Through such partnerships, we provide training to front-line providers and increase community awareness about PD.The program has been extensively evaluated with a mixed method approach using principles of participatory evaluation. Evaluation results show CPP to be an effective outreach model, reaching over ¾ million community residents across the Nation. We will discuss the evolution of the program, lessons learned, challenges and evaluation results of best practices in addressing health disparities in chronic diseases such as PD.