title: Evaluation of a community health representative program among the Cree of northern Quebec.
abstract: The James Bay Cree Community Health Representative (CHR) program was implemented in 1984 to train persons from the Cree population of northern Quebec to act as health care advocates and educators, as intermediaries between the Cree population, health services and local organizations, and as participants in assessing health needs. A formative evaluation was initiated which included quantitative analysis of the daily tasks of CHRs and a qualitative component based on documentary research, observation and semi-structured interviews. The evaluation revealed that CHRs actively participated in the ongoing community health programs mainly through health education; the people interviewed showed a high level of satisfaction. However, direct supervision, sufficient continuing education for the CHRs and better integration into health care teams are long-term goals which need to be emphasized in the program.
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Health, Montreal General Hospital, Quebec, Canada.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lavallée
authors.forename: C A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: James
authors.forename: E J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Robinson
mesh_terms: D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D003150:Community Health Workers / Q000193:education / Q000592:standards*; D003258:Consumer Behavior; D006266:Health Education; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006302:Health Services Research; D006801:Humans; D007198:Indians, North American; D010344:Patient Advocacy; D015397:Program Evaluation; D011792:Quebec; D012380:Role