The Evolution of the Healthy Homes Program
NCRCAP’s Healthy Homes for All Program has evolved substantially since its inception in 2002. During the early years of the program, NCRCAP outreach workers struggled to gain the trust of families and community members.
Staff attended health fairs, parenting groups, and community events to recruit families for in-home outreach visits. Though NCRCAP offered free testing and counseling on hazards in the home environment, families in Chatham County, and particularly families in the Hispanic community, declined to participate. Community members were hesitant to invite strangers into their homes to diagnose problems and offer solutions. The need for a shift in our approach was clear.
The Promotora Program
Through research and partnerships with organizations across the state,
NCRCAP developed a grant proposal to fund a lay health advisor program.
The lay health advisor model is an evidence-based, best practice approach
in which trusted members of a community are trained on a specific health
issue, and then use their own informal social networks to educate peers
and promote dialogue in the wider community. As members of the community
in which they serve, Promotoras can successfully overcome the obstacles
to outreach posed by immigration status and language barriers.
NCRCAP partnered with the Wake Forest University School of Medicine’s
Department of Community and Family Medicine to develop the Promotora
program. Wake Forest implemented a lead poisoning prevention Promotora
program in three counties in Western North Carolina. Wake Forest staff
and community partners developed a bilingual flip-chart presentation
to educate families on lead poisoning prevention.
The Presentation
The presentation is accessible to low-literacy audiences and tells the
story of a mother who learns that her child has an elevated blood lead
level, and how she responds with the help of medical and environmental
health professionals.
Promotoras from Wake Forest’s program attended a training session with NCRCAP’s Promotoras to share their experiences and model an outreach visit for the group.
Why a Promotora Program?
- Allow well-respected community members to deliver important health messages to families in an accessible way
- Build the capacity of community members to address the health needs of the community
- Provide employment and professional development opportunities to residents