Taking Healthcare by Storm: Industry Insights with Quality Insights' Community Health Workers

In this episode of Taking Healthcare by Storm, Quality Insights Medical Director Dr. Jean Storm speaks with three of Quality Insights' Community Health Workers (CHWs): Lisbeth Rojas, Maria Salazar, and Stephanie Duncan.

Lisbeth, Maria, and Stephanie discuss their impactful work in Delaware addressing health disparities for women and babies through community-based relationships and essential resources. They share success stories and envision a future where CHWs are integral parts of the healthcare system, advocating for patient-centered care and support.

Learn more about Quality Insights' maternal health work in Delaware.

If you have any topics or guests you'd like to see on future episodes, reach out to us on our website.

Publication number QI-082225-GK

Transcript

Welcome to "Taking Healthcare by Storm: Industry Insights," the podcast that delves into the captivating intersection of innovation, science, compassion, and care. 

In each episode, Quality Insights’ Medical Director Dr. Jean Storm will have the privilege of engaging with leading experts across diverse fields, including dieticians, pharmacists, and brave patients navigating their own healthcare journeys. 

Our mission is to bring you the best healthcare insights, drawing from the expertise of professionals across West Virginia, Pennsylvania and the nation.

Subscribe now, and together, we can take healthcare by storm.

 Hello everyone and welcome to another episode of Taking Healthcare by Storm. I am Dr. Jean Storm, the medical director of Quality Insights, and today we are spotlighting a powerful initiative that is making a real difference for women.

And babies in Delaware, maternal and postpartum mortality rates in the United States are among the highest in the developed world, and the risks are even greater in underserved communities. This project in collaboration with the Delaware Department of Public Health. Collaboration with Quality Insights aims to improve health outcomes for women and babies in Delaware by addressing health disparities through trusted community-based relationships, trained community health workers, CHWs as we're gonna be referring to them.

Community health workers conduct social determinants of health assessments, connect clients to essential resources and collaborate with home visiting programs to expand support networks focused on high need geographic zones. This initiative strengthens healthcare access. Equity by embedding CHWs in communities and partnering with local organizations and providers, this program is very impactful.

So I am very happy to be joined by three community health workers today from Quality Insights. I'm gonna let them introduce themselves and tell us how long they've been with Quality Insights First, Stephanie, you wanna introduce yourself? Sure. Hello, my name is Stephanie again and I have been a CHW with Quality Insights for almost three years now.

Nice. And Lisbeth. Thank you, Dr. Jean.  My name is Lizabeth Rojas and I am collaborating with maternal health program since May of 2021.

Very nice. And Maria.

Hi, my name is Maria and  I have been at Quality Insight for a little bit more than a year now. And I am also a community health worker. Thank you for having me here. Yeah, I'm really excited to get into the conversation. So I have a few questions that we're gonna. Be talking about the work that you're all doing in maternal health.

So I'm going to ask each of you, from your perspective, doing this important work in maternal health in Delaware. What do you feel is the most impactful or meaningful part of your work as a community health worker? Maria, let's start with you. Of course  the most impactful part of my work as a community health worker is definitely the way I connect with my clients.

I believe that clients connect more  with someone that  they can relate when it comes to understanding their need and stories.  As someone, as part of the community I. I can observe that when I talk to my clients.  I feel like they're more open up to somebody who it's more part of the community that has been going through like, the same thing so they can feel more relatable  probably talking to like a traditional provider that might not have the same experience as what our clients go through day by day. Very nice. And Lisbeth, same question. Thank you. I would like to highlight some of this important work we do as a community health workers here at Quality Insights in Delaware.

First, by serving the most vulnerable and underserved population in our state by building a strong and meaningful relationships. To illustrate this statement, for example, we connect with clients at different and permit levels. We heard the stories with empathy. We create a safety space to listen the life experience.

Health literacy is crucial in our role. We use a MI techniques and other tools to communicate effectively with them. We guide our clients to learn how to navigate the health and social services we advocate for them. Since our program is bilingual, we assist them translating and interpreting when they need it.

And of course as a main goal, we connect our clients with appropriate resources in our community. Yeah, so very important. Stephanie, same question. I think it's important  that we are able to show up for our clients. Usually our clients are dealing with very complex. Challenges such as  not having housing or  not being able to afford food. And we are just, can we offer support? And sometimes that's what people need support and to be heard when they're in  vulnerable situations like that.

So I. enjoy the fact that I am able to offer something to someone that I hope if I'm ever in that same position, it would be offered to me. I think we should all operate that way, right? Treat others as we would want to be treated. And  I think you highlight something very important.  You'll all offer support and help.

 Individuals who are unhoused, navigate the housing system, find housing and food, very basic things  but you know, when you're are pregnant or with a young baby, these make you extremely vulnerable. And  as a community, we really need to kind of, make sure we are. Making sure that our most vulnerable individuals have the support that they need to survive you know, basic survival.

So thank you all for sharing those things. So I would love for you all to share a specific story or experience, whether it was a success or whether it was a challenge that really illustrates the vital role of this work in maternal health. Lisbeth, can you start us off? Absolutely. Yes. I would like to share a story that I already shared with the maternal health team two months ago.

This story illustrates connecting clients with community resources. It's about providing  baby supply resources for three maternal health clients in the SES county. Two of the three clients were pregnant and were in need of car seats. Clothing, diapers and other for the infants. Any of the clients have transportation.

So we encountered transportation barriers from the beginning. Finding transportation was very, very challenging Also. Not just because of the distance, but also because they live in three different rural areas. However, we find the right to transport them from to Wilmington, Newcastle County. In order to achieve my goal, I reach out.

Two wonderful organizations here in New Castle County Wilmington. One is called Healthy Village Equity Center, which is located on San Francis Hospital, and the second is Harper Heart. That is located in Wilmington Library. So I contacted both organizations and teach referrals, requesting them to provide resources for my clients previous to the visit.

To resource centers. I assisted my clients with filling out forms and registrations via Zoom, three-way calls. Do it to the language and technology barriers. I organiz the trip from Georgetown C four and Bridgeville in ES County to Wilmington. The clients attended the two events and they received all the resources they needed and they return home safely to the homes.

They express it great gratitude. The clients thank maternal health program and they love the free shopping experience at Heart is Heart and Equity Center. I was able to see the joy, the hope and trust, and the faces that makes my day. That was like really, really warm in my heart. After that, I thank the organizations for collaborating above and beyond with.

With my clients and I, I also think  Cindy Derman, my former supervisor, for allowing me to organize and coordinate not just a trip, but also important to meet personally with my clients that date in both locations. That's my story. Yeah. That's wonderful. That's heartwarming. Stephanie, do you have any stories or experiences you can share with us about this work?

Sure. I would like to highlight a success. So I was working with a client who had recently separated from her husband and she was unknowingly trapped in a  abusive relationship. I would like to say that I was a DV advocate before come into Quality Insights as a CHW. So I was able to recognize the signs.

She was a single mother with three children and a baby that she had recently had, and she was having a very hard time making ends meet, paying bills. Getting food, diapers. And after I talked to her about financial abuse she understood  that is exactly what she was experiencing still, even though they were separated.

And I was able to help her enroll in the DV financial empowerment class where she really gained a lot of knowledge and a lot of resources. And I was able to help her get into the Independence project, which is a program designed for domestic violence victim to help them rebuild their financial independence and their credit.

I was able to help her address, how food insecurity. And by signing up with the food bank for the delivery program.  Because her husband would frequently take her car, she wasn't able to always go out to get her food. I was also able to help her. With the protection from abuse order and able to help her file for vcap so she would be able to get victim's compensation to address like some of her financial burdens and get some of the things she needed in her house, such as extra locks and to fix some of the things that he had broken or torn up in the house.

 I find that as a success because a lot of women who experience domestic violence don't always, we don't always get to see that side. That's almost towards that happy ending where they are meeting some of the goals that they have for themselves, and they are able to pick up the broken pieces. Yeah, that's wonderful.

And, And I don't think we often think about the  financial abuse side of domestic violence and abuse. So that is really enlightening and I'm glad you shared that story, really teaching people how to become financially independent for themselves. Maria, would you like to share a story for us around your work?

Sure. So I just wanted to let you guys know a little bit this story contains a little bit of um, triggered warning. And it's about  I do work with the Hispanic community and. Or around Delaware. So county, Newcastle. And  when I first started Quality Insights, I was like my first client.

And I can say that it's a mix of you know, success and challenging story.  Because like I said, I was new and it was just like you know, how I'm gonna be able to help this client with success.  I had a client that was at the time when I started talking to her, she was running to some real legal issues.

Her husband was facing jail time. Due to false accusation DFS was involved, the family was gonna be apart. And for me, this story was just this client, I had to make sure that,  that I was able to you know, be very careful of what I was gonna say and do to help her. I was able to  advocate for her just because she has recently come from another country.

She didn't know her rights. She was afraid to report, she didn't know what to do. And I can just said that  I was very not, I don't wanna say obsessed, but you, I was very determined. I, I will say, that's the right word.  I was very determined to get. This family help.  I was able to advocate for her by making a report to the VFS after she had shared with me that the person who she lived with, like the owner of the house was abusing her kids.

And after I have told this story to um, DFS, you know, do the report, do everything the right way. They found out that the parent  the dad  He was not guilty of what they have accused him for. So I will, meanwhile, she didn't have work.

She had recently had a baby. She was breastfeeding. She didn't have family support. No food, no money, no nothing.  I was the only person who she could call and.  Sometimes she will call every single day and I will pick up the phone and you know, help her talk to her, listen to her with what she need.

And I was able to help her with food. Some items for her kids. Like I said, it did the report with the DFS, which did help a lot. And  after that was released and they, DFS came back to the house, made sure that they had a  because she had to get out of the home where she was she was able to find a rent you know, a house and,  dFS came back to see if the kids were safe and everything.

 So I was able to help her  keep her family together by advocating and helping her through that hard process that she was going through at the time.   like I said, It was challenging, but it was also a success story.  

It's inspiring just listening to all of you. You do so much good work.  It's  I feel inspired, so thank you for sharing your stories with me. So the last question. Thank you. Yeah. And then the last question. I'm interested in hearing from each of you  your answers. If you were in charge of shaping the future of healthcare in the United States, like we're all going through a very chaotic, tumultuous time, I think.

So if you were in charge of healthcare in the United States, what role would you want to see community health workers play in the healthcare system? If you had a magic wand and a wishlist, and you could get whatever you want. Lisbeth, let's start with you. What would you want, what role would a community health workers play?

Okay. I believe we create the integration of community health workers into the health system and provide their offices. This will help doctors and staff by sharing the responsibility of the social determinants of health and giving them assurance that patients are receiving the help they need. It will help patients.

By increasing access to resources, decreasing stigma, improving the sense that the providers are assisting them in a whole person centered manner. It'll help community health workers by increasing the perceived value as a internal parts of the healthcare team. That's wonderful and I hope you get your wish someday.

Lisbeth. Maria, what about you? What is your wish? Same. I will have to agree with Lisbeth.  I think the healthcare system you know, being part of the healthcare system  just because I think it's very important, much needed  I feel like we are very essential and, we can relate more and be more connected to our clients.

I had just, I tell you a little bit  I have one client that went to the hospital and she was going through a lot of stuff that she was afraid to talk to the doctor or the nurse. And once she. Talk to me. She was able to explain to me everything. Just that, like I said, that connection, that um, trust that we have with the clients, it's amazing.

So yes, I would love for us to see, I would like to see CHW in the future, like in hospital offices, doctor offices, and  yeah. So that would be my wish for our CHWs. I agree as patient advocates most. Most, yes. Yes. Stephanie, what would is your wish? I would like to see the role of CHWs and evidence-based doulas merged.

So we could address the high maternity and infant mortality rates. Among black women and black babies, there are so many birth injuries and complications that could be prevented if there was someone to actually speak up and advocate for them and provide emotional support and just education.

So I really wish that those two things would merge. So. That the CHW would have that knowledge to be able to help mothers and families navigate. I agree. I think that could make a huge impact in underserved populations because there is, there's a lot of mistrust right now and there, there's a lot of suffering and it's really hard to hear about and hard to see. So I am, I'm just gonna say I've been inspired listening to you all today and I feel better knowing that the three of you are out in the world doing this important work. So thank you so much for coming on first of all today, and thank you for just  doing the important work that you do.

Thank you for having us and  asking these questions. Yeah. So if anyone is interested in learning more about this work, we are going to link the website on  the podcast description. It will  explain, but I just will say that there are individuals out in the world who are doing this work every day, and they are really the unsung heroes in our world.

 I really feel that way,  maria, Lisbeth, Stephanie, thank you all. Thank you all again for coming on the podcast. Thank you for having us.

Thank you for tuning in to Taking Healthcare by Storm: Industry Insights with Quality Insights Medical Director Dr. Jean Storm. We hope that you enjoyed this episode. If you found value in what you heard, please consider subscribing to our podcast on your favorite platform.

If you have any topics or guests you'd like to see on future episodes, you can reach out to us on our website. We would love to hear from you.

So, until next time, stay curious, stay compassionate, and keep taking healthcare by storm.