Yuma county connect (chws, outreach, networking, engagement, collaboration and training) - yuma county community health worker (CHW) roots date back to 1987, as pioneers in the arizona community…

Yuma county connect (chws, outreach, networking, engagement, collaboration and training) - yuma county community health worker (CHW) roots date back to 1987, as pioneers in the arizona community health worker model through the "comienzo sano" (health start) program. Through the health start program, chws have provided evidence as being fundamental in reaching demographically isolated rural populations, essential to establishing trust with the hispanic/latino migrant population, and indispensable when reaching communities who are in need of community resources. Yuma county public health services district (YCPHSD) proposes to implement component B: implementation ready. Through this funding opportunity, we plan to serve the hispanic/latino community, which makes up 69% of the county's population. The proposed catchment area for this funding opportunity is yuma county, arizona. Yuma county is a multi-cultural border community located in the outermost region of southwest arizona neighbored by the state of california on the west and the country of mexico to the south. The total population is 209,468 and sixty-nine percent (69%) is of hispanic/latino origin. Hispanic/latinos are more at risk for poorer health outcomes and/or death due to covid-19 due high the prevalence of chronic health conditions such as heart disease, cancer, and diabetes. According to the state department of health services (ADHS) as of may 21, 2021 data, shows there has been 37,188 confirmed cases and 838 deaths in yuma county since the onset of the pandemic. For several months, when the pandemic reached our area yuma county, AZ and the southern border state of mexico, sonora our communities were considered "hot spots" due to their high covid-19 positivity rate. Residents of south yuma county were particularly challenged due to limited english proficiency, congregate housing settings for agricultural workers and families living in multi-generational homes. The purpose in applying for the funding opportunity is to serve the community as a whole with an emphasis to serve hispanic minorities, agricultural farm workers, migrant communities and other vulnerable populations through the expanded reach of community health workers to overcome covid-19 adverse outcomes. YCPHSD will establish a local CHW community coalition aimed to inform and unite chws providing services among their respective capacities and to establish mentorship opportunities from seasoned chws. Through involvement of stakeholders, community health workers, and members of the community, the coalition will address the overall approach to train, deploy, and engage chws for covid-19 response, decrease health disparities and increase community resiliency. Training strategies will consist of learning core foundation skills to serve as a liaison/link/intermediary between health/social services. Chws will undergo core competency training through an arizona approved training program. Core competencies include communication, relationship building, service coordination, capacity building, advocacy, education and facilitation, assessment, outreach, professional conduct, and knowledge base. Chws will also have the opportunity to become voluntarily certified as a CHW professional through the local community college arizona western college (AWC). During the 2018 legislative session, arizona state legislature passed HB2324 voluntary certification for community health workers through the arizona department of health services. HB2324 was signed by governor doug ducey on may 18, 2021. Deploy strategies will consist of acting as an extension of public health emergency preparedness and immunization programs services. Through these strategies, chws will provide mitigation education, vaccine education and resource dissemination among the local farm worker community, hispanic/latino population and underserved yuma county communities. Engage strategies will consist of linking the target population WI