Community Health Workers and their use of Health Coaching to Increase Mammography Screenings

Patient care is evolving from the traditional medical model to the inclusion of community health workers (CHW) in supporting healthy behaviors. Due to the continuing breast cancer screening disparities among low-income communities, CHWs must be included in the care team to play a vital role in supporting women for early screening of breast cancer.

Trained by the University of California San Francisco's Center for Excellence in Primary Health Care, our CHWs aim to increase mammography screenings among Latina, African American, and Pacific Islander women. These women are served at Ravenswood Family Health Center, a federally qualified health center in East Palo Alto, California. Four integral components of health coaching are: Ask-Tell-Ask, Agenda Setting, Goal Setting, and Closing the Loop. Ask-Tell-Ask includes assesing knowledge and exploration of barriers. Agenda Setting allows the patient to contribute to the conversation by discussing what is important to her. Goal setting involves discussing preparation for appointment and confidence level in attending her appointment. Closing the loop is used to assess understanding of procedure and clarifying additional questions.

CHWs reported these techniques improved their interaction with the women, and enhanced confidence in keeping their appointments. Women who received health coaching were more likely to attend their appointment. No show rates among women who received coaching were lower as compared to those who did not. The results demonstrates the importance of training CHWs in health coaching to inform and motivate patients in becoming active participants in their healthcare.

A CHW will be involved in presenting this session.