ASPO Abstracts
Utilizing Community Health Ambassadors to Extend and Bridge the Gap in Healthcare System Services, Patient Navigation Services, and Resources through Community-Based Partnerships and Collaborations
Category: Cancer Health Disparities
Conference Year: 2022
Abstract Body:
Study Purpose: The purpose of this initiative is to educate trusted community members to help promote recommended cancer screenings and increase healthcare service access and utilization. African American and LatinX community members are more likely to die from cancer than their White counterparts. Studies have examined the benefits of Community Health Ambassadors (CHAs) to decrease barriers to cancer care and healthcare system resources. Benefits occur when trusted CHAs are given the opportunity to work through their own community and social networks to reach individuals to help increase community member's participation in health screenings which will ultimately have a positive effect on increasing early detection rates and reducing poor outcomes in certain diseases such as cancer. Methods: Strong data infrastructure and consistent collection practices are essential in program evaluation. Recruitment of CHAs utilized the snow-ball sampling/chain referral method as well as purposive sampling to recruit diverse community members. We administered a registration intake to access cancer health knowledge, demographic makeup of the community that will be served, conducted interviews to evaluate perceived barriers to program implementation and geographic reach for dissemination of cancer service resources, implemented a 4-hour virtual training session with a pre and post-test assessments to 247 CHAs.Results: Data show increases from a low of 65% to as high as 98% on topics such as cancer awareness and screening guideline knowledge, patient navigation principles, importance of clinical trials participation, building health programs within their respective community-based organizations, and health program evaluation. Participants received ongoing support and technical assistance from certified Patient Navigators and continuing educational opportunities about cancer prevention, screening services, and community resources. Conclusion: The CHA program increased important cancer-related knowledge of trusted community members from historically underserved populations. Healthcare systems should collaborate and partner with faith and community-based organizations to help decrease cancer disparities and address social drivers of health.
Keywords: Community Health Ambassadors, Trust