332425
East Lake Healthy Connections: A Community Health Program as Part of a Comprehensive Place-Based Community Change Initiative
Can a blighted, drug-infested area ever become a healthy, sustainable community? The East Lake neighborhood of Atlanta has proven that the answer is “yes” — thanks to public and private organizations working together to break the cycle of poverty. Working with residents the East Lake Foundation (ELF) sparked the holistic development of an entirely new community, creating opportunities for residents to break the cycle of poverty while attracting people of all ages and incomes looking for a sense of community. After an extensive planning process , it became apparent that ELF had multiple strategies in place to achieve education and housing results, but only a few programs to support the community wellness desired result of a physically, emotionally, mentally and financially healthy commuity. ELF worked with consultants to conduct a comprehensive health scan of the East Lake community. The scan revealed significant barriers to primary and preventive healthcare for East Lake families. In response to the issues related to lack of primary and preventive care in East Lake, the East Lake Healthy Connections Program (ELHC) was developed and implemented in 2013. Through a team of four Family Health Advocates ELHC aims to strategically address critical access-to-care barriers by assisting residents to enroll in health insurance programs, connecting them to accessible medical homes, and educating them on how to appropriately utilize primary and preventive health care services. This presentation will discuss the ELHC model, the implementation approach, key components of the interventions, implementation successes and challenges and year one outcome data.
Learning Areas:
Administer health education strategies, interventions and programs
Chronic disease management and prevention
Planning of health education strategies, interventions, and programs
Learning Objectives:
Describe the East Lake Foundation neighborhood transformation approach and how health is incorporated.
Identify the major health issues and needs identified in the East Lake community.
Describe the major goals of the East Lake Healthy Connections program.
Identify the four major objectives of the program.
Discuss the role of the Family Health Advocate in the program.
Define the key implementation components of the program.
Discuss early lessons learned and outcome data.
Keyword(s): Community Health Workers and Promoters, Community Health Programs
Presenting author's disclosure statement:Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: As a project director and consultant for numerous community health worker programs over the last 20 years, I have the knowledge, skills and experience to present this topic.
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.
