Exploring evaluation findings from the Getting on Target with Community Health Advisors project

Residents of the Mississippi Delta suffer from chronic diseases at a disproportionately higher rate than other regions of the country. High morbidity and mortality rates from chronic diseases are due in part to barriers to health services, including insufficient numbers of medical professionals. In an effort to meet the health care needs of disadvantaged populations, Community Health Advisors (CHAs) increasingly bridge the gap between the consumer and a limited number of providers. In 2008, the Getting on Target with Community Health Advisor (GOTCHA) project began training community members in 10 Delta counties on stroke prevention and early detection methods. GOTCHA training is comprised of two segments: comprehensive core skills training and training in chronic disease modules (hypertension, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, nutrition, stress management, and increasing physical activity). Unlike many CHA projects, GOTCHA is conducting rigorous process and impact evaluation. Qualitative and quantitative methods are being employed to evaluate GOTCHA training on participant's capacity for providing health services to their community. Findings presented in this session will describe how the training impacted CHAs' personal health behaviors, CHAs' stroke prevention knowledge and skills to be used in their community, as well as other factors, such as CHAs' sense of empowerment. A description will also be provided on process evaluation strategies used to enhance trainings in the GOTCHA project. An overview of the GOTCHA training, as well as findings from the project, will be of interest and relevance to other professionals exploring innovative approaches to meeting health care needs in their community.