260360 Sisters Working It Out......Health Advocacy In Motion (SWIO)

Monday, October 29, 2012 : 10:30 AM - 10:50 AM

Gina Curry, BS , Sisters Working It Out NFP (SWIO), Chicago, IL
Tonya Roberson, BA , Sisters Working It Out NFP, Chicago, IL
Monica Peek, MD, MPH , Department of Medicine, Section of General Internal Medicine, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL
     
SWIO is a peer education program in Chicago that engages Community Health Workers (CHW) to target the most medically underserved parts of the African American community for women's health outreach activities, particularly around breast and cervical cancer. This presentation will discuss this unique program that combines several aspects of community outreach with an innovative health advocacy module. Its beginning was a collaborative effort between the Chicago affiliate of the Black Women's Health Imperative, the Chicago chapter of Sister's Network, Inc., the Chicago Chapter of Y-ME National Breast Cancer Organization, Rush University Medical Center, and Cook County Hospital. The initial SWIO model over 10 years ago recruited and educated community members living in the city's public housing developments. This model was a very innovative and much needed outreach approach in Chicago during a period of very heavy usage of faith-based health initiatives that often missed women that were not affiliated with a faith community. However, since 2005, SWIO's model has very successfully transformed into a citywide program due to the Chicago Housing Authority's (CHA) housing redevelopment effort that demolished most of the Chicago housing “projects” and relocated over 25, 000 families and individuals throughout the 77 community areas in Chicago, as well as surrounding suburbs. Presenters will share the successes, challenges, lessons learned, anticipated future practices and the overall impact of this grass roots intervention.

Learning Areas:
Administer health education strategies, interventions and programs
Advocacy for health and health education
Diversity and culture
Implementation of health education strategies, interventions and programs

Learning Objectives:
1. Describe the development of Sisters Working It Out NFP (SWIO) 2. Discuss the successes and lessons learned over the past 10 years 3. Explain the changes in local city government that impacted the original mission of the organization

Keywords: African American, Community Health Promoters

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am the current Co-Director and assisted in the devlopment and implementation of the organization being discussed.
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.

Back to: 3116.0: Grass Roots: Home Grown Intervention From, By and For the Community