141st APHA Annual Meeting

In This section

284245
In their own words: CHWs share what supports they need to engage communities in heart health practices

Tuesday, November 5, 2013 : 10:50 AM - 11:10 AM

Jodi Anthony, MPH , Altarum Institute, Washington, DC
Augusto Angulo , Wittier Street Health Center, Roxbury, MA
Emilie Aguinaldo Edquid , Greater San Diego Area | Health, Wellness and Fitness, Project Concern International, National City, CA
Lourdes Fernandez, Promotora , AzPRC, University of Arizona School of Public Health, Tucson, AZ
Samia Hussein, B.S., EMT-B , Central Massachussets Area Health Education Center, Worcester, MA
Bridgett Miller , Housing Authority of the City of Columbia, Columbia, SC
Potri Ranka Manis Quano Nur, RN , Project Aspire, New York University Center for the Study of Asian American Health, New York, NY
Elsie Lee Sullivan, BS, MA , Reach For Wellness, Morehouse School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA
Doris Tsinnijinnie, CNA , Shiprock CHR Outreach Program
Lorena Verdugo , Cordinadora de Ventanilla de Salud, Consulado de Mexico, El Rio Community Health Center, Tucson
Gloria Ortiz, MS , Division for the Application of Research Discoveries (DARD), National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), Bethesda, MD
Jovonni R. Spinner, MPH , National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD
Community Health Workers (CHWs) are increasingly relied upon to provide effective health education and become frontline leaders in addressing social, cultural and environmental disadvantages that lead to health disparities. Nine organizations funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, are grappling with how to build the capacity of CHWs to implement community based heart health programs. These organizations are diverse in the populations they serve (Hispanic/Latino, African-American, Filipino and Native American), their organization types (e.g. CHW network, housing authority, community organization, University), and project approaches suitable for their communities (e.g. length and content of training, learning circles, online training). Collectively they are honing best practices for building CHW capacity, leadership development, and testing innovative strategies to educate vulnerable populations within and outside of the formal healthcare system. We propose a dynamic, interactive event with CHWs (nine are authors here) describing ‘what it takes' to translate training into community heart health outcomes, their greatest challenges, and promising strategies to overcome them. We will augment these first-person narratives with process and outcome evaluation data collected over the course of 15 months (pre, post, 30 days, 3 months, and 6 months) which shows improvements in knowledge, confidence, and health behavior among CHWs and community members. We will synthesize the promising approaches about capacity building and community education that could be replicated elsewhere. Our diversity in approaches and experiences enables us to fill an entire session, host a roundtable, or conduct one oral presentation, and are willing to fulfill any of these roles.

Learning Areas:
Administer health education strategies, interventions and programs
Diversity and culture
Implementation of health education strategies, interventions and programs
Public health or related education
Public health or related public policy
Public health or related research

Learning Objectives:
Demonstrate the real-life challenges CHWs and the organizations that support them face in improving community health Identify practical strategies to build the leadership skills of CHWs Discuss various approaches to working with vulnerable populations outside of the health system to address heart health disparities

Keywords: Health Disparities, Heart Disease

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I have been the director of multiple federal evaluation and technical assistance contracts related to health disparities, chronic disease and community health workers. I currently am Altarum's Area of Expertise Lead for Health Equity and Disparities, and am overseeing the implementation and evaluation of the 9 CHW Strategic Champion projects sub-contracted by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute.
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.