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The Community Health
Worker's Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention Sourcebook
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About a Community Health Worker's Sourcebook: A Training Manual for
Preventing Heart Disease and Stroke
In the United States, community health workers (CHWs)
help us meet our national Healthy People goals by conducting
community-level activities and interventions that promote health and
prevent diseases and disability. CHWs are trusted, respected members
of the community who serve as a bridge between their community
members and professionals in the field of health and human services.
They provide an important service by establishing and improving
relationships between these professionals and members of the
community. As community health educators and role models, CHWs
promote, encourage, and support positive, healthful self-management
behaviors among their peers. As community advocates, CHWs help
people get the services and follow-up care they need. CHWs serve as
patient and community advocates, as “coaches” for disease
management, and as patient “navigators,” guiding patients through
the health care system. They also strengthen their community’s
understanding and acceptance of medical care. The recognition of
their successes has led to recommendations that CHWs be included as
members of health care teams to help eliminate racial and ethnic
disparities in health care (see Appendix A:
Resources at the end of this sourcebook).
The sourcebook contains information and activities on heart
disease and stroke and on the major risk factors for these diseases in
adults. It also contains information on risk factors that begin in
childhood. Additionally, it addresses people’s adherence to treatment and
their communication with health care providers. Because the sourcebook
contains some technical information, it is recommended for CHWs who
already have some experience in their profession. The sourcebook is
not a replacement for basic CHW training, which addresses core skills
(See The National Community Health Advisor Study, Chapter 3: Core Roles and
Competencies of Community Health Advisors; May 1998 University of Arizona,
Tucson, Arizona, in Appendix A for more
information). Examples of some basic CHW training curricula are listed in
Appendix A: Resources at the end of this sourcebook. Although the sourcebook
does not address “patient navigation,” Appendix A lists a link to a useful
online toolkit that contains information on the topic; also, a future online
version of this sourcebook will provide updated information on patient
navigation.
The sourcebook is a resource that builds on strong
partnerships between the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and
Promotion at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other
agencies and organizations. The material in the sourcebook has been adapted
from The Women’s Wellness Sourcebook: Module III: Heart Disease and
Stroke and was developed for CHWs by the International Medical Services
for Health, an international nonprofit organization. Staff within CDC have
updated, reviewed, provided additional content, and pilot-tested the
sourcebook. They have done so in partnership with the University of Alabama
at Birmingham Research Prevention Center; the American Heart Association;
the American Stroke Association; the National Heart, Lung, and Blood
Institute (NHLBI); the Indian Health Service (IHS); the National Institute
for Neurological Diseases; and the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and
Education. The sourcebook reflects the latest research and national
guidelines on heart disease and stroke and their prevention.
The sourcebook follows the familiar format of the well-known
NHLBI training curricula Your Heart, Your Life: A Lay Health Educator’s
Manual (http://www.nhlbi.
nih.gov/health/prof/heart/latino/
eng_mnl.pdf [PDF–3,788K]) and Honoring the Gift of Heart Health: A
Heart Health Educator’s Manual for American Indians and Alaska Natives (http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/prof/heart/other/aian_manual/amer_indian.htm). This format makes the sourcebook a compatible training
companion for those familiar with the NHLBI training manuals.
The sourcebook references the Web sites and products of other federal
agencies and of private or not-for-profit organizations. A reference in the
sourcebook to a specific Web site, commercial product, process, service, or
company does not constitute its endorsement or recommendation by the U.S.
government or by CDC.
We thank you for your interest in this new resource. We welcome feedback on
your experiences in putting it to use. We are producing a limited number of
hard copies of the sourcebook, but we plan to make English and Spanish
language versions available on CDC’s Division for Heart Disease and
Stroke Prevention's Web site in the near future. Please send your comments
on this sourcebook to
cdcinfo@cdc.gov.
Back to Top Page last reviewed:
August 5, 2008
Page last modified: August 5, 2008
Content source: Division for Heart Disease and Stroke
Prevention,
National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and
Health Promotion |
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