Recorded presentation

Peter Whitt, MSW, Tanya Robinson, LISW, RN, Dakeita Bryant, CHW, Catherine Kopinsky, BA Social Work, Lena Grafton, BA Inf Tech, Deborah Ward, CHW, and Lisa Johnson, CHW. Community Outreach, Saint Vincent Charity Hospital, 2351 East 22nd Street, Cleveland, OH 44115, 216-363-3311, dakeita.bryant@csauh.com

Mortality rates within the low-income neighborhoods surrounding St. Vincent Charity Hospital in downtown Cleveland rank among the highest in the area. Tragically, the diseases killing those individuals who live only steps from the hospital are illnesses that, with early diagnosis and treatment, can be treated, cured, or prevented altogether.

Recognizing a need for health care intervention among its neighbors, in 2002 St. Vincent’s Community Outreach Department initiated the Health Advocacy Program in the Central Village neighborhood, an area characterized by extreme poverty, high mortality rates and staggering unemployment, and populated primarily by African Americans in single-parent households.

Aimed at lowering mortality rates and improving the health status of the Central Village community by empowering residents to make healthy lifestyle choices, the Health Advocacy Program is the only hospital-based program in the area to visit residents in their homes to assist them with reaching the medical services they need to improve their lives. Trained lay persons, known as Health Advocates, go door-to-door, encouraging residents to secure a primary care physician, participate in health screenings, undergo regular physicals, and make positive behavioral changes in the areas of diet, exercise, and smoking cessation.

The Community Outreach Health Advocacy Team (including, Community Health Worker) will present on why the program exists; program planning and implementation; improving outcome measurements; enhancing the role of CHW within the hospital; and challenges identified with integrating the CHW into a hospital based healthcare team.

Learning Objectives:

• Understand a process for program development utilizing a team approach.
• Understand the role and challenges of the Health Advocate (Community Health Worker) promoting healthcare access and behavior change.
• Understand the role of the Health Advocate within a hospital environment.

Keywords: Access to Health Care, Health Care Advocates

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: Saint Vincent Charity Hospital, Cleveland, OH
I have a significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.
Relationship: Employer

Recorded presentation