Access to healthcare services can be challenging for some individuals for many reasons including a lack of transportation, low health literacy, limited education, poor understanding of the healthcare system, little to no insurance or income, and more. Community Health Workers are needed to help these individuals access the resources they need to take control of their lives and improve their health.
In Year 2 of the REACH grant, The Wellness Coalition partnered with 3 new non-profits to train a total of 6 community health workers and to implement the Community Health Worker Program at:
- Family Guidance Center in Hayneville
- Friendship Mission North in Montgomery
- Hope Inspired Ministries in Montgomery
Training took place in December of 2015, and the community health workers became Certified Application Counselors through The Affordable Care Act in January of 2016. Since that time, these new community health workers have provided services to their clients including:
- Connecting clients with medical homes
- Providing free medication assistance
- Education on ways to avoid using emergency room services for routine care
- Chronic disease self-management education
- Enrollment in health insurance
As of June 30, 2016, these agencies provided Community Health Worker Services to 134 individuals throughout a total of 313 counseling, goal-setting, and educational sessions. The agencies have reported that they believe this enhancement of services is beneficial in addressing the total needs of the individuals they serve. Likewise, patients/clients expressed gratitude that someone in their community is concerned about their health and wellness.
Looking forward, we will continue to collect Year 2 data from these sites. Complete Year 2 data will be reported in a future issue of Partners in Wellness. We are also currently in the process of looking for additional sites for Year 3.
If you know of any agencies who may be interested in becoming a Year 3 site for community health worker training, please contact Latrice Lewis at (334) 293-6502.To learn more about community health worker training, or to read the Year 1 community health worker training success story outlining the experience of Friendship Mission West, please click here.
The Wellness Coalition is able to develop and coordinate these programs through funding from the CDC’s Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH) program.