Oral

Like so many of its counterparts across the country, Miami-Dade County is challenged by high numbers of uninsured children and families and significant barriers for these vulnerable populations to access a complicated health care system. Since 2002, the Community Voices Miami project has focused community attention on the potential role of community health workers (CHWs) in addressing such issues in Miami-Dade County. First, Community Voices concentrated on development of a three-tiered CHW training curriculum, which has been evaluated using a participatory process. Certified CHWs are encouraged to participate in community discussions and decision-making as informed advocates. As a result, a number of different agencies are collaborating in the development of programmatic and policy solutions that involve CHWs as part of the integrated system of health care delivery. HealthConnect in Our Community, a partnership of community-based agencies and funded by The Children’s Trust, aims to connect families with health care funding and medical homes. CHWs further participate in on-going professional development, facilitated support groups, critical data collection and program evaluation. The goals for this session are to: provide the background and context for how HealthConnect and Community Voices Miami have developed in partnership to reduce access barriers to health care; to communicate the progressive enhancements in CHW training, functioning and roles occurring in Miami Dade County; and, to convey the range of leadership roles CHWs are playing both in direct service and public policy development.

Session Objectives: At the end of this session, participants will: • Recognize the benefits of a CHW certification training and on-going supportive development • Learn methods of participatory evaluation in CHW programming • Understand the community context and partnerships that lead to a CHW integrated health policy innovation

CE Credits: CME, Health Education (CHES), Nursing