Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in the United States, and disparities in cardiovascular health exist among African Americans, American Indians, Hispanics, and Filipinos. The Community Health Worker Health Disparities Initiative of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) includes culturally tailored curricula taught by community health workers … [Read more...] about Knowledge and Behavioral Effects in Cardiovascular Health: Community Health Worker Health Disparities Initiative, 2007–2010
Chronic conditions
Cultural translation of interventions: diabetes care in American Samoa.
Translation of research advances into clinical practice for at-risk communities is important to eliminate disease disparities. Adult type 2 diabetes prevalence in the US territory of American Samoa is 21.5%, but little intervention research has been carried out there. We discuss our experience with cultural translation, drawing on an emerging implementation science, which aims … [Read more...] about Cultural translation of interventions: diabetes care in American Samoa.
Exploring the role of community health workers in providing cancer navigation: perceptions of African American older adults.
Cancer outcomes are unequally distributed across racial and ethnic groups, with minorities experiencing worse outcomes, particularly in overall survival. Several groups have recommended employing community health workers (CHWs) to help eliminate disparities. By identifying and addressing barriers to adherence to cancer screening or treatment recommendations and working … [Read more...] about Exploring the role of community health workers in providing cancer navigation: perceptions of African American older adults.
Community health workers support community-based participatory research ethics: lessons learned along the research-to-practice-to-community continuum.
Ethical principles of community-based participatory research (CBPR)--specifically, community engagement, mutual learning, action-reflection, and commitment to sustainability--are particularly relevant in cancer disparities research because vulnerable populations are often construed to be powerless, supposedly benefiting from programs over which they have no control. The long … [Read more...] about Community health workers support community-based participatory research ethics: lessons learned along the research-to-practice-to-community continuum.
Quality Improvement in Diabetes Care Using Community Health Workers
Community health centers take care of patients who are at high risk for adverse medical outcomes because of poverty, linguistic isolation, poor education, and poor health habits. Because of their population focus, health centers are positioned to implement systems-level changes affecting many patients. This article discusses the quality improvement initiatives at Holyoke … [Read more...] about Quality Improvement in Diabetes Care Using Community Health Workers

