Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #116742

Patrick Chaulk, MD, MPH, The Annie E. Casey Foundation, 701 St Paul Street, Baltimore, MD 21202, Marcia Bayne-Smith, DSW, Urban Studies Department, Queens College, City University of New York, 65-30 Kissena Blvd, Flushing, New York, NY 11367, 718-997-2719, Marcia@qc1.qc.edu, and Phyllis E. Kaye, MPA, PEK Consulting, llc, 1522 K Street NW, Suite 1130, Washington, DC 20005.

Neighborhood Health Messengers: A model for sustainable community and Public Health partnerships and leadership development

The neighborhood health messenger (NHM) model facilitates access for different populations to a wide range of health and social services, through the development of public health/community partnerships. Carefully selected residents are recruited from the community and trained to become NHMs in their neighborhoods while also working closely with their local Medicaid, public health, or other public agency. The two-part training for NHMs includes personal preparation to interact with community through door-to-door outreach, and training from the public agency regarding the nature of the services offered. NHMS tend to become not only well recognized leaders in their community but also they become trainers of trainers thereby creating sustainable community capacity for improving health and social conditions. Early evaluations and subsequent replication assessments of this model, point to positive behavior changes in a variety of areas. Pre-to-post intervention analysis demonstrate positive program outcomes that include increased numbers of: children enrolled in CHIP, adults enrolled in Medicaid, TB patients compliant with their medical regimen, and community-wide increases in voter registration, and increased dollars returned to a community because of filing for EITC. Findings illustrate that effective public private partnerships and the use of NHMs can lead to sustainable community behavioral changes and successful leadership development.

Learning Objectives: