Over the course of the last 4 months, the Community Health Workers have been hard at work, connecting with people within the Spanish speaking community, assessing the immediate, and long-term needs, and gaining a deeper understanding of how to foster mental, emotional, and physical health within the Latinx community on Lopez.
In case you missed the October introduction, Community Health Workers (CHW) are powerful allies and leaders who serve the communities they reside in, giving them a unique ability to bring information where it is most needed. They are leaders, agents of change, who work to reduce health disparities in underserved communities. Among the many known outcomes of CHWs’ service are improved access to healthcare services, increased health and screening, and an overall better understanding of community needs and how to best meet them.
Through in-person focus groups, committees, chat groups and anonymous surveys, Karina E. Cerda Aguirre, Laura Contreras, Melissa Montalvo-Chavez, Veronica Ramirez and Mariana Beecher Robles have been hard at work gathering information and learning how to best support the Latinx community here on Lopez.
“We have a lot of ideas,” says Ramirez, “but in the end it’s about how to best support the community’s needs.”
But what are those needs?
“So far, we are seeing that access to healthcare is a problem for many reasons. Some people are concerned about mental health, specifically for teens,” says Robles. “There is also uncertainty about emergency services, such as being flown off in a helicopter,” says Cerda.
Since their start, the Community Health Workers have launched two surveys and hosted two meetings where 12 different people attended. During their feedback sessions, they have learned that the needs and concerns include hormonal health, mental health, nutrition, wellness/exercise, emergency preparedness and what to do in the case of a fire.
“I’m really excited about the work we are doing! I love being in contact with my community, talking to people and listening to their concerns, being able to look for possible solutions, and just trying to achieve a better life for everyone. It feels really good to be of service and to learn!” says Montalvo-Chavez.
Currently, the CHW’s are undergoing training with the WA State Department of Health and are each choosing areas of interest to specialize in: dental health, chronic pain, and even vaccines.
When we asked what they have planned for the future, they shared their hope to organize a variety of workshops and events that would bring information and bilingual medical services that people want on Lopez, starting with a collaboration with the Fire Department to bring a course on fire safety, extinguisher use and emergency response.
Learning about the incredible work these women are doing, it reminds us that our community is not just a collection of individuals, but rather a system of support. That system is built of bridges and the Community Health Workers are doing an amazing job of laying down the infrastructure to bring us closer together and improve the overall health and well-being of all of the members of our community.