2015 APHA Annual Meeting & Expo

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Recorded Annual Meeting Presentations (RAMP) are now available for purchase.
Only $90 for presenters, $140 for registered attendees and $200 for non-attendees.

Online Program

335050
Integrating community health workers into healthcare delivery models: Triumphs and tribulations of community health workers working on healthcare teams


Monday, November 2, 2015 : 3:10 p.m. - 3:50 p.m.

Simon Ma, Department of Health Services, Los Angeles County, Los Angeles, CA
Ami Shah, MPH, UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA
Brandi Sankey, CHW, County of Los Angeles - Department of Health Services, Los Angeles, CA
Soridania Santana, CHW, Justice Research Institute, Needham
Demetrius Frazier, CHW, Sisters Together And Reaching, Baltim
Kim Artis, AA, Sinai Urban Health Institute, Sinai Health System, Chicago, IL
  
Audio (mp3) recording Recorded Presentation (mp4)
Community Health Workers (CHWs) bring immense value to healthcare teams.  They engage and accompany the most vulnerable patients and communities to improve health; CHWs bring the community's "voice" to teams, enhancing the capacity of medical providers to tailor interventions to achieve the Triple Aim.  CHWs are navigators, care coordinators, health educators, patient advocates, and members of care teams.

As CHWs play an increasing role in health delivery, we need to explore their perspectives regarding their work in healthcare teams.  In a 90-minute panel discussion, CHWs from four leading healthcare-integrated CHW programs will present their perspectives:

  • LA County Care Connections Program – primary care-integrated, care management program that addresses the needs of LA's highest risk primary care patients
  • Sinai Urban Health Institute – the research arm of a safety-net community hospital that employs CHWs to address widening racial/ethnic disparities in health for various chronic diseases
  • Sisters Together And Reaching, Inc. – community-based program that partners with Johns Hopkins Medicine to address the needs of patients residing in low-income neighborhoods in East Baltimore
  • The PACT Project – community-based program that partners with Boston-area HIV providers to address the needs of high-risk AIDS patients

The following questions wiill be addressed through brief presentations, followed by an interactive, moderated discussion:

  1. What are the biggest successes/challenges of CHWs working with traditional healthcare delivery teams? How have you built upon successes and addressed challenges?
  2. What challenges have you noted from the tension between being a community advocate and an employed member of a healthcare delivery team?

Learning Areas:

Administer health education strategies, interventions and programs
Chronic disease management and prevention
Implementation of health education strategies, interventions and programs
Other professions or practice related to public health
Planning of health education strategies, interventions, and programs
Provision of health care to the public

Learning Objectives:
Describe CHW perspectives on key successes and how they have built upon them. Describe CHW perspectives on key challenges and how they have overcome them.

Keyword(s): Community Health Workers and Promoters, Health Care Delivery

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am the Project Manager of the Care Connections Program (CCP), a Community Health Worker program in the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services. Through my role, I supervise 25 CHWs and played a key role in developing protocols for the implementation of the program. I will be co-presenting with Ami Shah, the Executive Director of the CCP.
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.

Back to: 3348.0: Best practices to support and sustain CHWs as part of integrated care delivery