142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition

Annual Meeting Recordings are now available for purchase

303276
Community Health Workers and their use of Health Coaching to Increase Mammography Screenings

142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition (November 15 - November 19, 2014): http://www.apha.org/events-and-meetings/annual
Wednesday, November 19, 2014 : 9:30 AM - 9:50 AM

Isabel Quinonez, MPH , Ravenswood Family Health Center, East Palo Alto, CA
Vania Garcia , Ravenswood Family Health Center, East Palo Alo, CA
Patient care is evolving from the traditional medical model to the inclusion of community health workers (CHW) in supporting healthy behaviors. Due to the continuing breast cancer screening disparities among low-income communities, CHWs must be included in the care team to play a vital role in supporting women for early screening of breast cancer.

Trained by the University of California San Francisco's Center for Excellence in Primary Health Care, our CHWs aim to increase mammography screenings among Latina, African American, and Pacific Islander women. These women are served at Ravenswood Family Health Center, a federally qualified health center in East Palo Alto, California. Four integral components of health coaching are: Ask-Tell-Ask, Agenda Setting, Goal Setting, and Closing the Loop. Ask-Tell-Ask includes assesing knowledge and exploration of barriers. Agenda Setting allows the patient to contribute to the conversation by discussing what is important to her. Goal setting involves discussing preparation for appointment and confidence level in attending her appointment. Closing the loop is used to assess understanding of procedure and clarifying additional questions.

CHWs reported these techniques improved their interaction with the women, and enhanced confidence in keeping their appointments. Women who received health coaching were more likely to attend their appointment. No show rates among women who received coaching were lower as compared to those who did not. The results demonstrates the importance of training CHWs in health coaching to inform and motivate patients in becoming active participants in their healthcare.

A CHW will be involved in presenting this session.

Learning Areas:

Administer health education strategies, interventions and programs
Other professions or practice related to public health
Systems thinking models (conceptual and theoretical models), applications related to public health

Learning Objectives:
Describe four health coaching techniques most useful to improve participation in mammography screening. Explain the role of community health workers (CHW) in improving mammography screening

Keyword(s): Cancer Prevention and Screening, Community Health Workers and Promoters

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I have 7 years of experience in the area of breast cancer screening and prevention, beginning with the development and implementation of all breast health services at Ravenswood Family Health Center. I also hold a Master of Public Health, with an emphasis in community health, from San Jose State University.
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.