How do you bridge the cultural gap between a growing minority population and our health care system? One effective way is to use community health workers (CHWs). Last March, NEWAHEC received a three-year Wisconsin Partnership Program grant from the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health to implement ¡Sí Se Puede! (Yes You Can!), a diabetes outreach and education program for the Latino population in Green Bay.
Not a New Concept
Although relatively new to Wisconsin, community health worker (CHW) programs have been implemented in many different settings since the 1950s. The term “community health worker” is one of many titles used to describe lay health advocates or indigenous health outreach workers. The definition of a CHW is an individual who is indigenous to his/her community and is trained and employed to serve as a link between community members and the health care delivery system. In recent years the use of community health workers has increased, partially in response to increased social and economic pressures and a national focus on improved comprehensive health care access for all. The increasing diversity of the U.S. population has also contributed to recognition of CHWs as important assets to the health care team. The programs are designed to meet the needs of target populations that have persistent, disparate health problems, and also experience significant barriers to accessing health care services.
Project Goals
¡Sí Se Puede! has four goals:
- To improve diabetes management skills for 225 Latino adults in Green Bay with type 2 diabetes
- To improve access to, and continuity of care for Latino adults in Green Bay with type 2 diabetes
- To promote behaviors to prevent diabetes and increase awareness of the diabetes self-management class series among Latino adults in Green Bay
- To provide health professions students opportunities to participate in program development, implementation and evaluation
Key Project Partners
¡Sí Se Puede! has many partners to ensure its success. The primary community partner is St. Willebrord Catholic Church. St. Willebrord has provided health outreach to the Latino population for over 10 years through its Health Ministry program. Other community partners include the NEW Community Clinic, a federally qualified community health center, the Brown County Health Department, and St. Mary’s Hospital. Academic partners include the Wisconsin AHEC Program for technical assistance in CHW curriculum development; the UW Center for the Study of Cultural Diversity in healthcare for program evaluation consultation; and Bellin College of Nursing and UW-Green Bay Dietetics Program for student involvement.
Progress To Date
¡Sí Se Puede! has accomplished much in its first nine months.
- The initial CHWs have been hired and trained.
- A participant intake assessment tool and data base have been developed and implemented. The CHW training curriculum has been developed.
- A six-week diabetes self-management class curriculum has been completed.
- The first group of 19 participants have been recruited and have graduated from the class. Including family members, over 40 people attended the classes.
- Nursing and dietetics students have contributed to the project.
The next steps for the program are to recruit new participants for the diabetes class, and to engage class graduates in a variety of support activities to ensure that the knowledge they gained from the classes will result in sustained healthy behaviors. For more information, contact Martin Schaller by phone at (920) 652-0238, or by email
martys@newahec.org.
