CHW Programs in Texas
Texas has dozens of active CHW programs. Featured below are programs in Ft. Worth, Houston and the Lower Rio Grande Valley, and brief descriptions with links to many other programs around the state.
HRSA-funded projects
For a list of HRSA-funded CHW projects, click here.
Other States
This page also describes a number of CHW programs in other states, and provides links to obtain more information.
Alaska Native
Health Care System>>
Latino Health Access>>
Kentucky Homeplace>>
Community Health Advisor Network>>
Maternal/Infant Health Outreach Worker (MIHOW) program>>
Community Voices>>
Project ENABLE , Baltimore
Community Health Access Program (CHAP), Ohio
Neighborhood
Outreach Teams -
Fort Worth Public Health Department
The Outreach Division of the Fort Worth Public Health Department is composed of community health nurses, social workers and community health aides.
For more information go to http://www.fortworthgov.org/health/OR/index.asp
MotherNet America evolved from the National Commission to Prevent Infant Mortality, which had asked INMED to develop a set of resource and training materials for community-based home visiting programs to combat infant mortality and low birthweight, and improve the health and well-being of pregnant women and young families.
MotherNet America operates two model home visiting programs: MotherNet L.A., an urban inner-city model in Compton, a community in South Central Los Angeles, and MotherNet/Healthy Families Loudoun, a rural/suburban model in northern Virginia.
A 1997 press release describes the
program's impact:
Click
here to read press release>>
Latino Health Access, based in Orange County, California, has pioneered in the role of CHWs in chronic disease management, beginning with diabetes. LHA later moved into cardiovascular disease, and most recently has tackled asthma. LHA's success is built on the effectiveness of repeated contact with a peer who has shared common experience with the patient and his/her family.
For more information, click here: Latino Health Access>>
De Madres a Madres
is one of the best-known examples in the country of a volunteer CHW program. De Madres a Madres is a mother-to-mother agency in La Casa Azul that supports at-risk pregnant Hispanic women through caring, sharing information and developing a safety network needed for maintaining a healthier community.
1108 Paschall
Houston, Texas 77009
713-223-2432
713-223-0240 (Fax)
Click here to send email
De Madres a Madres web site>>
Migrant
Health Promotion (Progreso)
MHP in South Texas is a component of a national organization
based in Michigan, which as pioneered in the involvement of promotores
de salud among migrant agricultural workers. They completed one of
the earliest studies of the effectiveness of "camp health aides."
In the Lower Rio Grande Valley, MHP has also led the CDC-funded REACH
Coalition (Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health), addressing
diabetes along the Border, which has been recognized by CDC as an "exemplary
state program."
Link to Texas
REACH Coalition>>
MHP's new Web site (scheduled to be operational in August) describes their
Texas and Michigan initiatives, many of which involve promotores.
Link to MHP home page>>
"Navigators"
in Harris County
The Harris County Community Access Collaborative consists of more than 80 safety net providers and other interested agencies. "Gateway to Care" is an initiative to improve healthcare access, which includes county-wide 24-hour nurse advice line and Navigator Services, a group of CHWs stationed around the county to assist primarily the uninsured in finding free or low-cost services. The Gateway project is also the first site funded by the Texas Health and Human Services Commission for a pilot project under House Bill 1864 (1999) to extend Navigator services to families covered under Medicaid and CHIP.
For more information contact Karin Dunn, (281) 820-4616 or click here to send an email.
CHWs in Baltimore have produced dramatic results with chronically ill and disabled adults. Click here for a PowerPoint slideshow on their approach. See more information on our Evaluation page.
Community Health Advisor Network
CHAN is a group of local grassroots, community-driven CHW programs, primarily in the Southeast. Click here to visit their Web site, and see further information on our Training Resources page.
Kentucky Homeplace may be the only broad-purpose CHW program in the country to receive a significant regular appropriation from their State general fund, after several years of pilot testing. The program operates mainly in rural counties and assists low-income families regardless of eligibility for other programs. Click here to visit their web site.
Maternal/Infant Health Outreach Worker (MIHOW) program
Using local women as its primary staff, MIHOW is a partnership between the Vanderbilt University Center for Health Services (CHS) and community-based organizations in six states: Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, and West Virginia. These local women — mothers who are trusted locally for their energy, integrity, compassion, and commitment to their community — visit pregnant women and families with young children up to three years of age in their home to promote healthy living and self-sufficiency. Click here for the MIHOW web site.
Community Voices is an initiative of the Kellogg Foundation
to improve access to care for the uninsured through community-level collaboration
and innovation. Several
of the13 local sites have used CHWs. NEW! CV has published "Communtiy
Voices and Community Health Workers: Promoting Good Health;" this
can be downloaded in PDF
format from this link. The report includes a description of the UNI
Trujillo model in Peru.
The 2002 Community Voices report, report, "Making Sense of Health
Care Systems," is also available free. Go to http://www.communityvoices.org/PolicyBriefs.aspx
and click on the title of the report.
Indiana Family Care Coordination
The Indiana State Health Department created a maternal and child health program using home visitors trained under a version of the Resource Mothers curriculum (see Curriculum page). The State issues a Community Health Worker training based on this curriculum.
Vietnamese Health Outreach "Health is Gold" - New!
Contact Thoa Nguyen, Project Director at (415) 476-0557, ext. 19, or email at thoa@itsa.ucsf.edu. Their Web site is http://www.healthisgold.org/
Alaska
Native Health Care System
Community Health Aide Program
The Community Health Aide (CHA) Program developed in the 1950s in response to a number of health concerns including the tuberculosis epidemic, high infant mortality, and high rate of injuries in rural Alaska. The CHA Program now consists of a network of approximately 500 Community Health Aides/Practitioners (CHA/Ps) in over 170 rural Alaska villages.
Click here for a summary of the program with contact information.
Click here for the web site of the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium.
Community Health Access
Program (CHAP), Ohio
CHAP uses a system of about 40 simple protocols called "Pathways"
based on common situations encountered with families in the community.
Workers are often responsible for assisting families in negotiating multiple
"Pathways" as they address health and health-related needs.
For a diagram of the Pathways process, click
here. For their case management process diagram, click
here.
For more information, contact:
Mark Redding, MD
Community Health Access Project
523 Park Avenue East
Mansfield, Ohio 44905
( 419) 525-4649
Click here to send email.
.
Other Texas CHW programs
Central
Dallas Ministries
CDM operates a "community care coordination"
program using CHWs. Click here
for a description of this project.
Promotoras on Old Pearsall Road, San Antonio
This TDH-funded initiative through the University of Texas
Health Science Center focuses on recruitment strategies for volunteer
promotoras in a "gateway" neighborhood for new immigrants.
Contact Diana SanMiguel, (210)
567-5725.
AVANCE National Office (San Antonio)
AVANCE has a subcontract with the Texas Health Steps (EPSDT)
outreach contractor, in which home visitors encourage families to get
well-child exams for the Medicaid-eligible children. Contact Mercedes
Pérez de Colón at (210) 273-4630.
Project Bienestar (San Antonio)
This innovative diabetes prevention initiative in
San Antonio employs 15 promotoras working in elementary schools. Click
here and here
for articles about the project. Contact Dr. Roberto Treviño at
(210) 533-8886. The program was featured on Texas Public Radio in their
¡Viva la Salud! series (Part
12, June 2003).
The project operates in the three major subregions of the
Texas-Mexico Border region (El Paso, Laredo and Lower Rio Grande Valley),
working on basic issues of community facilities and access to a full range
of services.
Pro
Salud, Houston
Apartment-based community workers (promotoras) provide
SCHIP enrollment, health education, and referral to residents of their
apartment complexes in the mainly Hispanic Gulfton neighborhood.
Contact: Margaret Goetz, MD, FAAP
Pro Salud
3742 Tangley
Houston, TX 77005
Concilio of Dallas Promotoras Program
This program facilitates access to programs such as
Medicaid and CHIP. The Dallas Concilio provides assistance with the application
process, health care education, and the managed care system.
US-Mexico
Border Region
In 2001, the Texas Department of Health
compiled a listing of 52 promotora projects in border counties.
To view a PDF file of this listing with contact information, click here:
Texas border programs>>
Other examples
NEW! Transcultural Community Health Initiative, Providence, R.I. Brown
Univ. research study)
Click
here for article
Click here for contact info.
NEW! The Comprehensive Health Investment Project (CHIP) of Virginia is a multi-site access initiative. For an example of CHIP activities, one of their locations has a Web site: http://www.peopleincorp.org/chip.htm - or call (804) 783-2667.
Examples of other Virginia CHW programs can be found at the following
locations:
http://www.brahec.jmu.edu/promotoras.htm
http://www.brahec.jmu.edu/interpreter.htm
NEW! The Baltimore Men's Health Initiative is an initiative of the Kellogg Foundatuion through the Baltimore City Health Department. Contact Sherry Adeyemi, (410) 396-4502 or sherry.adeyemi@baltimorecity.gov
NEW! St. Vincent Charity Hospital, Cleveland, Ohio: Peter Whitt, MSW
(216) 383-3311
Baltimore Heart Disease Prevention Initiative
Durham Community Health Network
Immigrant Health Initiative, Chatham Hospital, Siler, NC
Culture Specific HIV Interventions for Mexican-Americans, UNC Chapel Hill
CDC REACH Program (Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health)
Project HOPE (New Jersey)
New York City Medicaid Recertification Project
Global Health Action (Atlanta)
Global Health Action (International)
Northern Manhattan Perinatal Partnership
Community Health Outreach Worker Project (Hawaii)
“Health Works in the Community” University of North Carolina, Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention
New Mexico Border Health Office
CHW job description (New York)
‘Community Worker’ job description, City of Long Beach (CA)
CHW job description, San Mateo, CA
CHW job description, State of Maryland
CHW job description (asthma) San Francisco
CHW
job description, City of Philadelphia