Match made in health: An Arkansas pilot to leverage federal dollars in support of chronic disease management

The University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service’s Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP) provides peer-delivered nutrition education in community settings. A national program funded by the USDA, EFNEP is unique in its program delivery approach. Educators recruit families and receive referrals from their own social network, participants, community organizations, and public entities. Yet a challenge for educators’ remains identifying eligible participants and for program administrators’, lack of biometric data that support behavior change outcomes. In 2013 CDC funded Arkansas Department of Health's Well-Integrated Screening and Evaluations for Woman across the Nation (WISEWOMAN) to extend healthcare services to eligible women. The extension is created by providing payment to community-based, non-traditional providers for the provision of services that are more likely to have lasting health effects. The rationale to support non-traditional providers lies in addressing commonplace barriers of healthcare delivery including location and trust challenges. In 2014 Arkansas WISEWOMAN and EFNEP formed a win-win partnership that linked the two programs. Here WISEWOMAN staff assesses participants’ readiness to change, health needs, and accessibility challenges. Eligible individuals are enrolled in EFNEP by peer educators and participate in a research-based curriculum. After completion of the curriculum the participants are referred back to clinicians for follow-up. At the end of each program year de-identified biometric outcome data is shared. To date the partnership continues with a goal of enrolling 100 eligible women into EFNEP through June 2015. Overall, this model may be adapted across states to leverage both national programs to better serve individuals.