Friday, November 22, 2024
11/22/2024
Applicant Organization: Ascension Sacred Heart System, Inc. Address: 5151 North 9th Avenue, Pensacola, Florida 32504-8721 Project Director Name: Donna Ryan, RN RDN MPH CDCES FADCES Contact Phone Numbers – Voice: (850) 416-7259 Fax: Not applicable E-Mail Address: donna.ryan@ascension.org Web Site Address: https://healthcare.ascension.org/locations/florida/flpen/pensacola-ascension-sacred-heart-pensacola Amount Requested: $2,998,972 The Ascension Sacred Heart Gulf Coast REACH (Respect, Education, Access to Community Health) Project will increase the number of Community Health Workers (CHW) and equip them with the skillsets needed to provide effective community outreach, build trust with communities, support connections to and retention in care and support services and other strategies to increase access to care and to assist individuals in prevention services, and recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and other public health emergencies in underserved communities. These combined efforts will advance public health, strengthen the public health workforce, reduce health disparities, and help underserved populations achieve health equity. The proposed project’s goals are: (1) expand the public health workforce by training new and existing community health CHWs with specialized training and financial support to offset expenses that would impede success in training; (2) extend and upskill the public health workforce by developing new or enhancing existing curriculums to increase the skills and competencies of existing CHWs; (3) Increase CHW employment readiness through field placements and apprenticeships developed in collaboration with a network of partnerships that will enable trainees to respond to and support essential public health services and provide them with employment opportunities; and (4) Advance health equity and support for underserved communities by increasing the number of CHWs that are employed as integral members of integr ated care teams that use their expanded skills to reduce health disparities. The priority target trainee population for the proposed project includes but is not limited to: (1) African American; (2) Deaf and Hard of Hearing; (3) Disabilities; (4) Latinx; (5) LGBTQ+; (6) Rural, and (7) Spirituality and Faith-Based populations. The proposed project aims to train at least 240 CHWs reflective of populations living in medically underserved areas in a six-county target market in the northwest Florida panhandle region. The CHW trainees will ideally include a high percentage of rural plus ethnically and racially disadvantaged students. Additionally, a particular emphasis will be placed on identifying and recruiting trainees who will remain in their communities upon completion of the program and work to improve the health and welfare of residents that know and trust the trainee, thus bridging more health disparity gaps. While admission to the CHW program will not be limited by race, ethnicity, or background, the Project Team expects the diversity of CHWs will be as reflective as the communities they serve. All CHW trainees will appreciate and respect ethnic, linguistic, cultural, and socioeconomic diversity. CHW trainees will work with individuals "where they are" and address them as a whole person with dignity and respect. CHW training will address cultural awareness, health equity, SDOH, and will be culturally competent. Integrated health equity, SDOH, and cultural humility are core principles in the current CHW training curricula and will continue to be in the proposed training program. These concepts are covered multiple times in didactic coursework and applied in CHW/patient engagement strategies with a patient-centered approach. CHW trainees must use these concepts and will be evaluated through quizzes and competency testing.
HHS’ Tracking Accountability in Government Grants System (TAGGS) website provides access to detailed descriptions of grants, loans, aggregated direct payments and other types of financial assistance awarded by the HHS Operating Divisions (OPDIVs) and the Office of the Secretary Staff Divisions (STAFFDIVs).
