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CHW Health Disparities Initiative

Southeast Arizona Area Health Education Center (SEAHEC)

“Our first Master Training was great. The Master Trainers are dedicated, smart, and already brimming with ideas about how to move the Initiative forward.” –SEAHEC Program Manager

Location:

Arizona

Intended Population:

American Indians and Hispanics/Latinos

Key Partners:

Arizona Community Health Workers’ Outreach Network; Inter Tribal Council of Arizona, Inc.; Mariposa Community Health Center; Arizona Prevention Research Center at the University of Arizona

CVD Burden:

According to the Arizona Department of Health Services, heart disease is the leading cause of death for Arizona’s American Indians and Hispanics. American Indians have the highest percentage of premature deaths from all forms of cardiovascular disease and Hispanic females have the highest mortality rates from heart failure compared to other racial or ethnic groups and genders.1

Implementation:

SEAHEC built on the strengths of four key partner agencies to collectively recruit, train, and support community health workers (CHWs) and community health representatives (CHRs) statewide. Together, these agencies trained and supported 143 CHWs and CHRs. This investment in CHW and CHR capacity expanded a statewide infrastructure. In addition to the in-person trainings, SEAHEC worked with local institutions to address disparities in access to NHLBI materials and other online resources and upgraded the Arizona Community Health Outreach Workers Network website to include links to NHLBI resources. The upgraded website provided a forum for CHWs to share lessons learned with each other. Central to SEAHEC’s approach was to obtain commitment from Master Trainers’ organizations to provide ongoing support, opportunities for mentoring, and time to train and support other CHWs.

Evaluation:

The participatory approach to planning and management, in which each of the four partner agencies meaningfully contributed, was the basis of the evaluation. All project partners were equally involved in identifying outcomes and indicators, shared responsibility for data collection and monitoring, and participated in interpretation and application of evaluation findings to improve implementation and achieve anticipated outcomes. The University of Arizona provided technical expertise in guiding the evaluation process, analyzing evaluation data, and providing a forum for ongoing discussion of the data. The process evaluation focused on identifying innovative and successful strategies for conducting CHW and CHR outreach, building capacity, and improving methods for disseminating and expanding use of NHLBI materials. It also examined increases in CHW and CHR heart health knowledge and the ability to implement the curricula. Outcome evaluation focused on the sustainability of the efforts begun under this project and the level of heart health promotion activity across Arizona.

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1 Arizona Department of Health Services. (n.d.). The burden of cardiovascular disease in Arizona. Phoenix, AZ: Arizona Department of Health Services. pdf document icon (PDF, 4.8 MB)

Last Updated: June 2014