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Agencies to lead community health worker outreach program

Tribune-Democrat - 5/15/2020

May 15--Three local nonprofit agencies are recruiting workers to be the boots on the ground for the 1889 Jefferson Center for Population Health's new program to remove barriers to healthy living.

Alleghenies United Cerebral Palsy, Beginnings Inc. and Community Action Partnership of Cambria County have been awarded contracts as care coordination agencies for the center's Pathways Community HUB model for population health.

The population health center will provide funding for each of the three agencies to hire two community health workers. The center will also provide training for the workers.

"We are excited to introduce the nationally recognized Pathways Community HUB model to the community, to help address the needs of individuals at most risk and improve their health outcomes," said Jeannine McMillan, executive director for the population health center's Community Care HUB.

Initially, the community health workers will be assisting pregnant women from the Johnstown area who are eligible for Medical Assistance.

The workers will help the women receive the proper care and connect with local resources to reduce the incidence of low birth weight deliveries and gestational diabetes, McMillan said.

Johnstown has one of the highest incidence rates of low birth weight babies in the state, she said.

"It was definitely a population area we knew could benefit from the community health workers," McMillan said.

"The plan is -- after the community health workers are on board -- we'll start to look at other corners of the population who could benefit. We will expand the number of community health workers as well."

'Creative and innovative'

McMillan admits the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and limits on interpersonal contact and group events all make it challenging to launch a new program right now.

Most of the community health worker training can be conducted online. She would like to see one final class with all six workers together.

The health workers' jobs will also require some adjusting if social distancing measures are still in effect when they start working in late summer. Normally they would be working in clients' homes.

McMillan said she's been in touch with other Pathways Community HUB programs.

"They have been very creative and innovative in terms of the COVID-19 restrictions," she said.

But the pandemic has created a greater need for the HUB's program, she added. Increased unemployment and more people feeling isolated from families represent additional barriers to wellness that can be overcome through the HUB's 21 pathways.

Pathways include adult education, transportation, housing, medication screening, medical referrals and social services.

Leaders of all three care coordination agencies say the community health worker model dovetails with their existing programs.

"Everything we do is provided in the homes, so it seemed like a really natural fit," Beginnings Executive Director Paula Eppley-Newman said.

'Connect to services'

Beginnings provides early intervention for families and children with special needs. Its Parents as Teachers program strengthens parents' role as their child's first and most important teacher.

The HUB's focus on pregnant women represents a different area for Beginnings, Eppley-Newman admits.

"It goes beyond our current focus, but it also blends with a model we have implemented ourselves, which is: You may be going into the home to work with a child who is 2 years old, but then you find out there's somebody else in the home who has some issues. We are able to point them in the direction for help," she said. "That is something we've been working at and providing for some time."

Community Action Partnership works with clients who are battling poverty, Executive Director Jeffrey Vaughn said. The 1889 Jefferson Center for Population Health's HUB program encompasses many of the obstacles faced by those in poverty.

"A lot of what we do is help people connect to services," Vaughn said.

"We make sure they know about the resources in their community and help them get out of their situations. So it fits well within our mission to become part of the Community Care HUB."

Alleghenies United Cerebral Palsy provides in-home services for individuals with physical disabilities, CEO Tammy Rhoades said.

"For us, this was a great opportunity to expand and to learn about the community health worker," she said. "We are an organization with social workers, so it fits right into our work."

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