 | The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
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| The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
Heather A. Davis, MPH, Chugachmiut, 4201 Tudor Centre Drive, Suite 210, Anchorage, AK 99508, 907-562-4155, Heather@Chugachmiut.org and Rosalind E. Jenkins, MPH, CHES, Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium, 222 Tongass Avenue, Sitka, AK 99835.
Providing health services in rural and remote Alaskan villages is a difficult task. Many health related services are delivered by itinerant providers who do not live in the communities they serve, and are in the community for a specific task and time period. The Community Wellness Advocate Program was developed to support a cadre of well-trained, community-based public health promotion paraprofessionals to complement the existing clinical care providers in rural Alaskan communities. The training provides an accessible and academically sound distance-delivered certificate program that teaches students how to successfully implement health promotion and health education activities. One Native organization has sent six students from five villages to be trained as community wellness advocates. Working in conjunction with a cardiovascular disease prevention program, the community wellness advocates have developed and implemented awareness of cardiovascular disease by promoting health behavior changes in their communities. In 1998, heart disease was the third leading cause of death for Alaska Native men, and the second leading cause of death for Alaska Native women. Through the work of community wellness advocates, it is hoped community members become aware of cardiovascular disease and adopt healthy lifestyle changes to reduce the risk of cardiovascular problems.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Alaska Natives, Community-Based Health Promotion
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.