Getting on Target with Community Health Advisors (GOTCHA): an innovative stroke prevention project.
Health disparities along with insufficient numbers of healthcare providers and resources have created a need for effective and efficient grassroots approaches to improve community health. Community-based participatory research (CBPR), more specifically the utilization of community health advisors (CHAs), is one such strategy. The Getting on Target with Community Health Advisors (GOTCHA) project convened an interdisciplinary team to answer the call from 10 counties in the rural Mississippi Delta area of 'The Stroke Belt' to meet the region's identified health needs, and to impact the health of a disparaged state. This article explores this CBPR project including the community involvement strategies, innovative CHA training curriculum, evaluation plan, and implications to healthcare professionals, particularly nurses.
The University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg, MS 39406, USA. lachel.story@usm.edu
Lachel
L
Story
Susan
S
Mayfield-Johnson
Laura H
LH
Downey
Charkarra
C
Anderson-Lewis
Rebekah
R
Young
Pearlean
P
Day
D002908:Chronic Disease; D003153:Community Health Services; D003479:Curriculum; D004059:Diffusion of Innovation; D037001:Directive Counseling / Q000379:methods*; D006266:Health Education; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008913:Minority Groups; D008922:Mississippi; D016730:Program Development; D015397:Program Evaluation; D020521:Stroke / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control*