title: A successful program for training parent mentors to provide assistance with obtaining health insurance for uninsured children.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Seven million US children lack health insurance. Community health workers are effective in insuring uninsured children, and parent mentors (PMs) in improving asthmatic children's outcomes. It is unknown, however, whether a training program can result in PMs acquiring knowledge/skills to insure uninsured children. The study aim was to determine whether a PM training program results in improved knowledge/skills regarding insuring uninsured minority children.
  
  
  METHODS
  Minority parents in a primary-care clinic who already had Medicaid/Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP)-covered children were selected as PMs, attending a 2-day training session addressing 9 topics. A 33-item pretraining test assessed knowledge/skills regarding Medicaid/CHIP, the application process, and medical homes. A 46-item posttest contained the same 33 pretest items (ordered differently) and 13 Likert-scale questions on training satisfaction.
  
  
  RESULTS
  All 15 PMs were female and nonwhite, 60% were unemployed, and the mean annual income was $20,913. After training, overall test scores (0-100 scale) significantly increased, from a mean of 62 (range 39-82) to 88 (range 67-100) (P < .01), and the number of wrong answers decreased (mean reduction 8; P < .01). Significant improvements occurred in 6 of 9 topics, and 100% of PMs reported being very satisfied (86%) or satisfied (14%) with the training. Preliminary data indicate PMs are significantly more effective than traditional Medicaid/CHIP outreach/enrollment in insuring uninsured minority children.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A PM training program resulted in significant improvements in knowledge and skills regarding outreach to and enrollment of uninsured, Medicaid/CHIP-eligible children, with high levels of satisfaction with the training. This PM training program might be a useful model for training Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act navigators.
authors.affiliation: Division of General Pediatrics, Department of Pediatrics, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Tex; Division of General Pediatrics, Children's Medical Center, Dallas, Tex. Electronic address: glenn.flores@utsouthwestern.edu.
authors.forename: Glenn
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Flores
authors.affiliation: Division of General Pediatrics, Department of Pediatrics, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Tex.
authors.forename: Candy
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Walker
authors.affiliation: Division of General Pediatrics, Department of Pediatrics, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Tex.
authors.forename: Hua
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Division of General Pediatrics, Department of Pediatrics, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Tex; Division of General Pediatrics, Children's Medical Center, Dallas, Tex.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Division of General Pediatrics, Department of Pediatrics, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Tex.
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fierro
authors.affiliation: Division of General Pediatrics, Department of Pediatrics, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Tex.
authors.forename: Monica
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Henry
authors.affiliation: Division of General Pediatrics, Department of Pediatrics, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Tex.
authors.forename: Kenneth
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Massey
authors.affiliation: Division of General Pediatrics, Department of Pediatrics, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Tex.
authors.forename: Alberto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Portillo
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American; D001249:Asthma; D065326:Children's Health Insurance Program; D003150:Community Health Workers / Q000193:education*; D003258:Consumer Behavior; D005260:Female; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006630:Hispanic or Latino; D006801:Humans; D008484:Medicaid; D017057:Medically Uninsured; D008611:Mentors / Q000193:education*; D010290:Parents / Q000193:education*; D010379:Peer Group; D014481:United States
keywords: adolescent; child; community health workers; medically uninsured; mentors