Community Health Workers: Building capacity to address Filipino heart health in New York City and New Jersey

Background and Significance: Community Health Workers (CHWs) are widely used to provide care for a broad range of health issues. However, there are few studies that document the efficacy of CHWs for managing high blood pressure; the effectiveness of CHW training; or best practices for CHW service delivery. Project AsPIRE, an NIH-sponsored program, provides a culturally- and linguistically-appropriate community health worker intervention to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease in the Filipino American community. Methods: To build the capacity of CHWs to address cardiovascular health, an extensive training curriculum was developed by a Community Health Nurse and Training Coordinator, with guidance from all members of the Project AsPIRE team. The curriculum includes core competencies, research skills, immigrant access issues, hypertension control, and navigation of the healthcare system. The curriculum is intended to build on the CHWs existing strengths to carry out their roles in outreach and community organizing, case management, health education, and data collection. Results and Discussion: Project AsPIRE Community Health Workers will develop and conduct a presentation about 1) how the training curriculum has been utilized to build their capacity to address heart health as well as how they helped build the capacity of academic partners and community groups to impact Filipino health, 2) the external and internal support mechanisms that helped the CHWs effectively carry out their roles, and 3) the various roles CHWs play in health care delivery related to improving cardiovascular health outcomes, self-management skills, and patient education and counseling for hypertensive Filipino community members.