261782 Developing the Michigan Community Health Worker Alliance: Lessons learned for other partnerships

Tuesday, October 30, 2012 : 11:10 AM - 11:30 AM

Katherine Mitchell, MSW , Michigan Community Health Worker Alliance, University of Michigan School of Social Work, Ann Arbor, MI
Edith Kieffer, PhD , School of Social Work, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
Gloria Palmisano, BS, MA , REACH Detroit Partnership, Detroit, MI
Patricia Duthie, BSN, RN , Healthier Communities, Spectrum Health, Grand Rapids, MI
Arthur Franke, PhD , National Kidney Foundation of Michigan, Inc., Ann Arbor, MI
Sylvie Naar-King, PhD , Pediatric Prevention Research Center, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, MI
Rebeca Guzman, LMSW , Detroit Department of Health and Wellness Promotion, Detroit, MI
Susie M. Williamson, BA, MA , Healthier Communities, Spectrum Health, Grand Rapids, MI
Marta Lugo-Rodriguez , REACH-Detroit Partnership, Detroit, MI
Community health worker (CHW) interventions frequently lead to improved health outcomes but face financial and occupational barriers to sustainability. With funding from the Nokomis Foundation, an informal coalition of Michigan CHWs, health care, community and academic partners, and national consultants conducted a statewide planning meeting in August 2011. Experts, both CHWs and others, shared national and local CHW program and policy successes. Participants broke into workgroups that created objectives for CHW sustainability in Michigan. Following the meeting, the Michigan Community Health Worker Alliance (MiCHWA) was formed. MiCHWA's mission is to promote and sustain the integration of CHWs into Michigan's health and human service systems through coordinated changes in policy and workforce development. The meeting planning committee, supplemented by new partners, is developing MiCHWA governance processes and supporting four work groups, each co-led by a CHW: Education and Workforce, Policy and Finance, Communications, and a CHW Network. The Network is a CHW-led group focused on supporting the profession and promoting CHW leadership. MiCHWA activities include development of a policy brief, an awareness campaign, a website including a CHW database, a statewide employer survey, and recommendations for core competencies, certification, and training curriculum. Organizations like MiCHWA, working integrally with CHWs, are uniting stakeholders in a collaborative way to create and maintain the momentum necessary to achieve sustainable policy and systems level change in Michigan. This presentation will share several valuable lessons that MiCHWA members have learned in organizing CHW allies statewide with other groups seeking to do the same.

Learning Areas:
Advocacy for health and health education
Implementation of health education strategies, interventions and programs
Other professions or practice related to public health
Public health or related public policy

Learning Objectives:
1)Describe the processes that Michigan stakeholders used to form a statewide CHW alliance. 2)Identify ways in which advocates for the integration of CHWs into health and human services systems can work with CHWs to take steps toward sustainable CHW policy and systems change at the state level. 3)Discuss the strengths, challenges, and strategies used by the Michigan Community Health Worker Alliance (MiCHWA) to create governance procedures and engage in activities including development of a policy brief, an awareness campaign, a website including a CHW database, a statewide employer survey, and recommendations for core competencies, certification, and training curriculum.

Keywords: Community Health Promoters, Policy/Policy Development

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I have been involved with the Michigan Community Health Worker Alliance from its beginning and throughout its planning and implementation process. In collaboration with CHW stakeholders, I continue to staff MiCHWA committees and assist with Alliance activities.
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: 4105.0: Supporting Community Health Workers Through Policies and Systems Changes