Health organizations in the state are increasingly using community liaisons to spread information about health services and programs, health officials said Monday.
A group of health-care representatives met to discuss how to form an association for the liaisons, who also are called community health workers.
The health workers are typically trusted members of a particular group, the officials said. They often share a medical condition, cultural background or live in the same region.
Some positions are filled by volunteers while others are paid for by the health organization that employs them.
“They care about the community,” said Naomi Cottoms, Tri-County Rural Health Network executive director. “They have often needed the services they are helping people receive.”
Cottoms said community health workers tend to be laymen who have not received extensive education and lack certification, but they understand the community they serve. This allows them to share information about services and programs in a way people in the communityunderstand.
Health workers spread information about financial assistance, advocacy or counseling programs. Liaisons also help with advocacy and counseling; a peer counselor for HIV is an example.
Outreach workers act as a liaison between the local health department and Marshallese community in Northwest Arkansas, said Robin Thomas, Washington County Health Unit administrator.
The workers could deliver medication or remind a family about immunizations needed for their children, Thomas said.
“A lot of the Marshallese population is not easy to find,” Thomas said. “You may not have the address for a family. It is helpful to have a community member helping.”
Thomas said an association could be helpful for these workers.
“It would be nice for them to speak with people who live in other communities doing similar programs,” Thomas said.
She said the workers could share ideas and learn about new ways to help the community.
Pearl Anna McElfish, director of research for the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, said she is researching the effect community health workers have on medical outcomes. She said it is important for healthleaders and community members to know whether community health workers have a positive effect on health care.
“Taxpayers want to know their money is being spent wisely,” McElfish said.
The association could develop a better understanding about the services that liaisons provide, officials said. It also could train and connect new workers with ones already in the field. An association also could help organizations receive funding for liaison positions.
Cottoms said health workers and organizations that use them have been working for more than two years to form the association. Nearly a dozen organizations are working together to start the association, including the Arkansas Health Department, Mid Delta Community Consortium, Tri-County Rural Health Network and the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences College of Public Health.
The goal is to make the association official by the end of the year, Cottoms said.
“In order to reach more people, we are visiting more areas,” Cottoms said to a room of people Monday in Fayetteville.
Those who attended work for organizations that either employ or could use community health workers in the future.
Northwest Arkansas, Pages 7 on 03/18/2014