According to the World Health Organization (WHO) Constitution, "the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health is one of the fundamental rights of every human being..."
Access to quality healthcare and to health education is a basic right, and part of the Colorado African Organization’s goal is to ensure that the African refugee and immigrant population here in Colorado has the knowledge and ability to prevent disease in themselves, their families and their communities and has access to quality healthcare services. In Colorado, Africans suffer disproportionately from diseases such as cancer, diabetes and heart disease—diseases that can be prevented and/or lessened in severity through the adoption of healthy lifestyle behaviors and regular screenings. In response to the need for better health and healthcare education in African communities, CAO launched its Health Awareness Campaign in fall 2008.
As part of this campaign, CAO provides health education to African refugees and immigrants utilizing two strategies: preventive health education sessions and Community Health Workers.
1. Preventive health education sessions are held at various locations that African immigrants and refugees usually congregate, including churches, mosques and community centers. The series have four hour-long sessions, each focusing on chronic diseases that disproportionately impact African populations, including: diabetes and obesity, breast and cervical cancer, cardiovascular disease, and prostate cancer.
This year CAO is holding the PowerPoint-style sessions at 10 different locations; this number will increase to 30 locations in 2010. Led by African physicians, these presentations can be tailored to meet the needs of individual communities; CAO provides interpreters for all its sessions upon request and has health education brochures and handouts available in many African languages.
Presentations can be arranged in any community in metro Denver; call the CAO offices at 303 953 7060 and ask to speak to Dr. Khalid to arrange sessions in your community. You can also email Khalid at khalidm@caoden.org.
2. Community Health Workers (CHW) is a new pilot program patterned after the evidence-based promotoras de salud model, which works to reach underserved populations by educating members of the community to teach their peers. CAO hopes to reach a different segment of the African population through CHWs, and is currently training women from 10 different African nations with a variety of backgrounds and life experiences to, in turn, educate their own community. Candidates were identified from input from leaders in the local African community and CAO’s partner agencies. All CHWs are currently female, as the woman is generally the health advocate in the family and for the youth.
In this program CHWs hold sessions in their homes, apartment complexes, CAO offices or community centers once a month for African women in the community to learn about basic preventive health education and how to navigate the health care system (including going to the doctor, and applying for Medicare and CHP+).
CAO hopes to expand upon this program beyond health into additional arenas as the CHWs and their individual groups identify further needs within their families and communities. Currently, CAO is looking at providing the women with skills to generate home-based income (crafts, childcare), lessons on household budgeting, driving lessons, advocacy skills-building sessions and resume-writing.
If you would like to join a CHW group, please call the CAO offices at 303 953 7060 and ask for Dr. Oumar. You can also email Dr. Oumar at oumaro@caoden.org.
If you are interested in volunteering to teach a skill to the CHWs and their peers, please contact Kit Taintor at kitt@caoden.org.
