289430
Local collaborations promote health access for a global community
The Maine Migrant Health Program (MMHP) and Somali Culture and Development Association (SCDA) are two organizations serving minority, vulnerable populations in Maine, especially migrant farmworkers, Latino immigrants, and African/Middle Eastern refugees/asylees. Both were awarded a Maine Health Access Foundation (MeHAF) grant supporting coordinated outreach to uninsured and medically underserved people about the benefits available through the Affordable Care Act. The work is in partnership with nine additional Maine organizations collaborating to provide each other with technical support, resources and policy expertise. MeHAF' s professional consulting assistance leads the planning /implementation of a coordinated outreach process to educate Maine's young adults, seniors, low-income, immigrant and others without insurance or access to quality health care. The partnerships encourage collaboration with other community organizations to ensure a broad and comprehensive approach to achieve health equity, including a CBPR project with University of New England. Together, the organizations identify appropriate messages and outreach strategies, vetted by community members. Messages accommodate culturally and linguistically appropriate low-literacy needs. Flowcharts and pictograms help clients understand information. Outreach practices include presentations by trusted individuals in natural settings-- community meetings, religious settings, one-on-one home visits. By adapting outreach strategies from the wider MeHAF project, members from Maine's global community gain tools for healthcare access through the local health care system. Evaluation includes qualitative measures -- personal stories from consumers and outreach staff regarding the relevancy and usefulness of the messages. Work with UNE will inform the development of quantitative measurement to evaluate the effectiveness of outreach and education.
Learning Areas:
Advocacy for health and health education
Communication and informatics
Diversity and culture
Implementation of health education strategies, interventions and programs
Planning of health education strategies, interventions, and programs
Public health or related public policy
Learning Objectives:
Discuss the value and types of partnerships among communities, providers and institutions.
Identify best practices in creating tools to access to health care and effective evaluation methodology.
Keyword(s): Community-Based Partnership, Access to Health Care
Presenting author's disclosure statement:Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: Over the past 2 years, I have been a member of a eleven agency grantee group that collaborates in developing materials to education consumers/providers on the Affordable Care Act. I work with Somali Culture and Develoment Association suppporting increased healthcare access in the immigrant community. My experience includes coalition building, program management and design,and CBPR.
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.
