Community:
Raise Community Awareness through Networking, Outreach, and Education
- Sponsor health fairs and education. Focus on special populations (ethnic, cultural, etc.).
- Provide education to people at homeless shelters and soup kitchens about diabetes, diet, exercise, etc.
- Work with churches or faith-based organizations or other groups where your patients naturally gather, for instance, barbershops and hair salons. Provide space for meetings, transportation for patients to get to meetings and appointments, screening for diabetes and hypertension, education, peer support groups, communication channels to patients and families, etc.
- Recruit and train migrant/homeless community health workers to assist in education and screening outreach programs.
- Recruit and train community health workers to link patients and providers (e.g., chart flagging, lab/referrals, outreach, education, and transportation).
- Have community health workers assist during support group meetings (e.g., providing testimonials or helping with food demonstrations).
- Have a school health fair for primary prevention and to teach kids what problems their parents with chronic conditions may have. Children can be very effective communicators for effecting patient behavior change. Remember the patient who decides to quit smoking after his/her child says, "Please stop smoking. I don't want you to die."
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