250117 Community Health Workers Strategically at the HEART of the Border Health Workforce

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

E. Lee Rosenthal, PhD, MPH , College of Health Sciences, University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, TX
Hector Balcazar, MS, PhD , El Paso, Regional Campus, UT Health Science Center-School of Public Health, EL Paso, TX
Aurora Aguirre Polanco, BS , Department of Public Health, University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, TX
Leticia Flores, MPH , Community Health Worker Program, El Paso Community College, El Paso, TX
Lorraine Hernandez, MS, CHES , Centro San Vicente, El Paso, TX
Maria Duarte-Gardea, MS, PhD , DEPT Chair-Department of HEALTH PROMOTION, University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, TX
With a Community Health Worker (CHW) intervention study well underway, the HEART project, a community-based participatory research in El Paso, Texas began work on a key policy aim identified in our National Institutes of Health grant. In this enhanced dimension of the project, the team is working on promoting the improved integration and sustainability of CHW in El Paso area workforce. To that end the HEART team is working a multiagency working group, in coordination with the local workforce commission, to develop a five year strategic plan (Plan) for sustainability of the CHW workforce in the region. This paper will highlight strategic directions identified by area stakeholders, in a variety of areas including recommendations to support and build area CHW networks, financing, and capacity building. The paper will also present on efforts to maintain a strong partnership after the collaborative planning process and on actual implementation activities fulfilling the goals and activities laid out in the Plan.

Learning Areas:
Public health or related organizational policy, standards, or other guidelines
Public health or related public policy
Public health or related research

Learning Objectives:
1. Participants will identify methods utilized in El Paso, Texas to develop a 5 year strategic plan, to promote, advance, and sustain the CHWs workforce, created by stakeholders working in Proyecto HEART and other local agencies, .

Keywords: Workforce, Community Health Advisor

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I serve as a Co-Investigator on the HEART grant and am the lead Investigator on the CHW Policy and Strategic Planning component of the HEART project.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

See more of: Sustaining CHW Programs: Successes and Challenges
See more of: Community Health Workers