scholarly journals A Pilot Study of the ¡Vivir Mi Vida! Lifestyle Intervention for Rural-Dwelling, Late-Midlife Latinos: Study Design and Protocol

2018 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-13
Author(s):  
Stacey L. Schepens Niemiec ◽  
Jeanine Blanchard ◽  
Cheryl L. P. Vigen ◽  
Jenny Martínez ◽  
Laura Guzmán ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Primary Care ◽  
Pilot Study ◽  
Community Health ◽  
Health Worker ◽  
Lifestyle Intervention ◽  
Community Health Worker ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Occupational Therapist ◽  
Post Intervention ◽  
Late Midlife

Older, rural-dwelling Latinos face multiple health disparities. We describe the protocol of a pilot study of a community health worker–occupational therapist-led lifestyle program, ¡Vivir Mi Vida! ( ¡VMV!), designed for delivery in primary care and adapted for late-midlife, Latino rural-living patients. Using mixed methods, we collected feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy data on ¡VMV!. Forty 50- to 64-year-old Latinos participated in a 16-week lifestyle intervention led by a community health worker–occupational therapist team. We conducted pre- and post-intervention assessments to evaluate the efficacy of ¡VMV! in improving psychosocial and clinical health outcomes. Focus groups and interviews were held post-intervention with participants and key stakeholders to assess feasibility and acceptability. This is the first trial designed to evaluate a lifestyle intervention that includes collaboration between occupational therapists and community health workers within primary care. The detailed description of methodology promotes research transparency and reproducibility of a community health worker–occupational therapist-led lifestyle intervention.

scholarly journals Integrating a nationally scaled workforce of community health workers in primary care: a modelling study

2018 ◽  
Vol 111 (12) ◽  
pp. 453-461 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benedict Hayhoe ◽  
Thomas E Cowling ◽  
Virimchi Pillutla ◽  
Priya Garg ◽  
Azeem Majeed ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Primary Care ◽  
General Practice ◽  
Community Health ◽  
Health Worker ◽  
Community Health Workers ◽  
Community Health Worker ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Pilot Studies ◽  
Cancer Screenings ◽  
Home Based

Objective To model cost and benefit of a national community health worker workforce. Design Modelling exercise based on all general practices in England. Setting United Kingdom National Health Service Primary Care. Participants Not applicable. Data sources Publicly available data on general practice demographics, population density, household size, salary scales and screening and immunisation uptake. Main outcome measures We estimated numbers of community health workers needed, anticipated workload and likely benefits to patients. Results Conservative modelling suggests that 110,585 community health workers would be needed to cover the general practice registered population in England, costing £2.22bn annually. Assuming community health workerss could engage with and successfully refer 20% of eligible unscreened or unimmunised individuals, an additional 753,592 cervical cancer screenings, 365,166 breast cancer screenings and 482,924 bowel cancer screenings could be expected within respective review periods. A total of 16,398 additional children annually could receive their MMR1 at 12 months and 24,716 their MMR2 at five years of age. Community health workerss would also provide home-based health promotion and lifestyle support to patients with chronic disease. Conclusion A scaled community health worker workforce integrated into primary care may be a valuable policy alternative. Pilot studies are required to establish feasibility and impact in NHS primary care.

scholarly journals An analysis of the services provided by Community Health Workers within an urban district in South Africa: a key contribution towards universal access to care.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leena Susan Thomas ◽  
Eric Buch ◽  
Yogan Pillay
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Access To Care ◽  
Community Health ◽  
Health Worker ◽  
Social Services ◽  
Community Health Workers ◽  
Community Health Worker ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Urban Setting ◽  
Early Screening

Abstract Introduction: Community health worker teams are potential game-changers in ensuring access to care in vulnerable communities. Who are they? What do they actually do? Can they help South Africa realize universal health coverage? As the proactive arm of the health services, community health workers teams provide household and community education, early screening, tracing and referrals for a range of health and social services. There is little local or global evidence on the household services provided by such teams, beyond specific disease-oriented activities such as for HIV and TB. This paper seeks to address this gap.Methods: Descriptive secondary data analysis of community health worker team activities in the Ekurhuleni health district, South Africa covering approximately 280 000 households with one million people. Results: Study findings illustrated that community health workers in these teams provided early screening and referrals for pregnant women and children under five. They distributed condoms and chronic medication to homes. They screened and referred for hypertension, diabetes mellitus, HIV and TB. The teams also undertook defaulter and contact tracing, the majority of which was for HIV & TB clients. Psychosocial support provided was in the form of access to social grants, access to child and gender-based violence protection services, food parcels and other services.Conclusion: Community Health Workers form the core of these teams and perform several health and psychosocial services in households and poor communities in South Africa, in addition to general health education. The teams studied provided a range of activities across many health conditions (mother & child related, HIV & TB, non-communicable diseases), as well as social services. These teams provided comprehensive care in a large-scale urban setting and can improve access to care.

scholarly journals Development of a tool for assessing quality of comprehensive care provided by community health workers in a community-based care programme in South Africa

BMJ Open ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (9) ◽  
pp. e030677
Author(s):  
Frances Griffiths ◽  
Olukemi Babalola ◽  
Celia Brown ◽  
Julia de Kadt ◽  
Hlologelo Malatji ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Quality Of Care ◽  
Community Health ◽  
Health Worker ◽  
Community Health Workers ◽  
Community Health Worker ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Comprehensive Care ◽  
Household Visit

ObjectiveTo develop a tool for use by non-clinical fieldworkers for assessing the quality of care delivered by community health workers providing comprehensive care in households in low- and middle-income countries.DesignWe determined the content of the tool using multiple sources of information, including interactions with district managers, national training manuals and an exploratory study that included observations of 70 community health workers undertaking 518 household visits collected as part of a wider study. We also reviewed relevant literature, selecting relevant domains and quality markers. To refine the tool and manual we worked with the fieldworkers who had undertaken the observations. We constructed two scores summarising key aspects of care: (1) delivering messages and actions during household visit, and (2) communicating with the household; we also collected contextual data. The fieldworkers used the tool with community health workers in a different area to test feasibility.SettingSouth Africa, where community health workers have been brought into the public health system to address the shortage of healthcare workers and limited access to healthcare. It was embedded in an intervention study to improve quality of community health worker supervision.Primary and secondary outcomesOur primary outcome was the completion of a tool and user manual.ResultsThe tool consists of four sections, completed at different stages during community health worker household visits: before setting out, at entry to a household, during the household visit and after leaving the household. Following tool refinement, we found no problems on field-testing the tool.ConclusionsWe have developed a tool for assessing quality of care delivered by community health workers at home visits, often an unobserved part of their role. The tool was developed for evaluating an intervention but could also be used to support training and management of community health workers.

Enabling Community Health Worker Recognition and Referral of Surgical Diseases: Pilot Study Results of a Pictorial Guide

2019 ◽  
Vol 43 (12) ◽  
pp. 2949-2958
Author(s):  
Sebastian Gualy ◽  
Christopher Herrera ◽  
Clara Warden ◽  
Tyron Valle ◽  
Jeanie Barnum ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Pilot Study ◽  
Community Health ◽  
Health Worker ◽  
Community Health Worker ◽  
Study Results

scholarly journals Evaluation of ¡Vivir Mi Vida! to improve health and wellness of rural-dwelling, late middle-aged Latino adults: results of a feasibility and pilot study of a lifestyle intervention

2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (5) ◽  
pp. 448-463 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stacey L. Schepens Niemiec ◽  
Jeanine Blanchard ◽  
Cheryl L. P. Vigen ◽  
Jenny Martínez ◽  
Laura Guzmán ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Primary Care ◽  
Community Health ◽  
Lifestyle Intervention ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Health Clinic ◽  
Middle Aged ◽  
Health Lifestyle ◽  
Latino Adults ◽  
Improve Health

AimThe aim of this study was to determine the feasibility and efficacy of a culturally tailored lifestyle intervention, ¡Vivir Mi Vida! (Live My Life!). This intervention was designed to improve the health and well-being of high risk late middle-aged Latino adults and to be implemented in a rural primary care system.BackgroundRural-dwelling Latino adults experience higher rates of chronic disease compared with their urban counterparts, a disparity exacerbated by limited access to healthcare services. Very few lifestyle interventions exist that are both culturally sensitive and compatible for delivery within a non-metropolitan primary care context.MethodsParticipants were 37 Latino, Spanish-speaking adults aged 50–64-years-old, recruited from a rural health clinic in the Antelope Valley of California. ¡Vivir Mi Vida! was delivered by a community health worker-occupational therapy team over a 16-week period. Subjective health, lifestyle factors, and cardiometabolic measures were collected pre- and post-intervention. Follow-up interviews and focus groups were held to collect information related to the subjective experiences of key stakeholders and participants.FindingsParticipants demonstrated improvements in systolic blood pressure, sodium and saturated fat intake, and numerous patient-centered outcomes ranging from increased well-being to reduced stress. Although participants were extremely satisfied with the program, stakeholders identified a number of implementation challenges. The findings suggest that a tailored lifestyle intervention led by community health workers and occupational therapists is feasible to implement in a primary care setting and can improve health outcomes in rural-dwelling, late middle-aged Latinos.

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