Empowered Community Leadership for Chronic Disease Prevention: Context Matters

Meaningful actions to reduce the disproportionate chronic disease burden in health-disparate, often segregated, and healthcare-vulnerable communities are challenging as there are many known and unknown multilevel factors that influence chronic disease prevention behavior. Despite the many challenges, community capacity can be built to facilitate prevention behavioral change. Community leadership among residents becomes that catalyst in building a sustainable capacity for chronic disease prevention (i.e., preventing diabetes, youth violence, or a novel disease) within the context of socioeconomic and other vulnerabilities. This article discusses the leadership role of community health workers (CHWs) as informed and empowered residents to catalyze multilevel prevention behavior change.

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Effectiveness of multicultural health workers in chronic disease prevention and self-management in culturally and linguistically diverse populations: a systematic literature review

Australian Journal of Primary Health ◽

10.1071/py11130 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 19 (1) ◽

pp. 14 ◽

Cited By ~ 18

Author(s):

Janny Goris ◽

Nera Komaric ◽

Amanda Guandalini ◽

Daniel Francis ◽

Ellen Hawes

Keyword(s):

Health Care ◽

Chronic Disease ◽

Disease Prevention ◽

Health Workers ◽

Linguistically Diverse ◽

Chronic Disease Prevention ◽

Culturally And Linguistically Diverse ◽

Self Management ◽

Primary Health ◽

Multicultural Health

With a large and increasing culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) population, the Australian health care system faces challenges in the provision of accessible culturally competent health care. Communities at higher risk of chronic disease include CALD communities. Overseas, multicultural health workers (MHWs) have been increasingly integrated in the delivery of culturally relevant primary health care to CALD communities. The objective of this systematic review was to examine the effectiveness of MHW interventions in chronic disease prevention and self-management in CALD populations with the aim to inform policy development of effective health care in CALD communities in Australia. A systematic review protocol was developed and computerised searches were conducted of multiple electronic databases from 1 January 1995 until 1 November 2010. Thirty-nine studies were identified including 31 randomised controlled trials. Many of the studies focussed on poor and underserved ethnic minorities. Several studies reported significant improvements in participants’ chronic disease prevention and self-management outcomes and meta-analyses identified a positive trend associated with MHW intervention. Australian Government policies express the need for targeted inventions for CALD communities. The broader systemic application of MHWs in Australian primary health care may provide one of the most useful targeted interventions for CALD communities.

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