Salud EN accion (health in action) - the arizona community health workers association, INC. (azchow) will partner with three community partners to form a network to carry out the salud EN acción…

Salud EN accion (health in action) - the arizona community health workers association, INC. (azchow) will partner with three community partners to form a network to carry out the salud EN acción (health in action) initiative in douglas (cochise county), arizona. Douglas is a rural, low income, socially vulnerable and underserved hispanic/latino community on the US-méxico border. Network partners include chiricahua community health centers, INC., cochise county health and social services and the university of arizona cooperative extension cochise county. Salud EN acción will mobilize community health workers (chws)/promotores DE salud as an evidence-based model to address barriers to social determinants of health (sdoh) in two domains – health care access and quality plus neighborhood and community context – in order to increase utilization of preventative services that will impact two healthy people 2030 local health indicators: increase colorectal cancer screening (LHI1) and reduce household food insecurity and hunger (LHI2). Salud in acción will pursue three goals and seven process objectives to achieve seven outcome objectives. In addition to the power of chws/promotores DE salud, salud EN acción will implement a variety of strategies to increase colorectal cancer screening and screenings for chronic disease risk factors, increase access to healthy foods in the form of fruits and vegetables, increase health literacy, enhance interconnectedness and peer support and increase community action for change. An existing interagency coalition and a new community-led coalition will serve as the voice of the salud EN acción network and participants. Salud EN acción enjoys a long-term relationship with the university of arizona prevention research center that will lead the community-based participatory evaluation process with project partners and participants in order to measure progress and outcomes for quality improvement in douglas and to disseminate lessons learned to contribute to popu lation health improvement nationally. The fact that the community partners represent three organization types that typically serve rural communities-a federally qualified health center, a county public health department and the local cooperative extension office-make this initiative highly replicable for other rural and/or hispanic/latino communities. In addition, CHW certification and medicaid reimbursement in arizona make the salud EN acción CHW interventions sustainable. All partners look forward to working together to achieve our goals and share our success reducing health disparities and promoting health equity.