Little Village boasts a large and growing base of over 150 community health workers (CHWs), or promotorxs de salud, representing dozens of local institutions and focusing their efforts on a diverse set of public health issues. It has been shown that CHWs can greatly reduce the impact of disparities related to access to care because they act as liaisons between providers and the community, promote culturally appropriate health literacy, address a lack of cultural competency on the part of healthcare providers, and provide consistency for patients.

 

Enlace led a health planning process at the beginning of 2015 that brought together more than three dozen stakeholders representing community-based organizations, healthcare providers, advocacy groups, faith-based institutions and academic institutions. Participants focused on supporting the specific recommendations outlined in the Health section of the 2013 Little Village Quality of Life Plan by strengthening the work of CHWs. The overarching goal of the final plan was to more closely connect residents, community-based organizations and healthcare providers through the formation of a local CHW network.

 

Promoviendo, Abogando, y Educando por la Salud (PAES) provides support to CHWs through continuous training and development in order to build their skills in health promotion and education, create more opportunities for them to gain employment, and mobilize them to be advocates on behalf of the community. PAES meets monthly for networking and resource-sharing. Trainings on a variety of health-related topics are also held regularly for PAES members. Meetings and trainings are conducted primarily in Spanish.

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For more information about PAES, contact paes@enlacechicago.org or 773-669-5490.