Community health workers (CHWs) are effective in improving access to health care, promoting client knowledge and behavior change, and contributing to improved health status of individuals. However, few outreach programs have evaluated the financial impact of CHWs on health care systems and policies. A longitudinal repeated measures design was used to assess the return on investment (ROI) of out...

To study the feasibility of self-collected specimens for testing human papillomavirus (HPV) status among hard-to-reach women, outreach nurses recruited women in women's centres, shelters and alleys in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside. Of the 151 participants for whom samples were available, 43 (28.5%) tested positive for high-risk HPV. Outreach nurses were able to recontact 81.4% of the participan...

Our paper examines service usage (e.g., shelter) as well as a typology of individuals who are most likely to use groupings of services among 249 homeless youth. Our results revealed that the majority of homeless young people have used food programs (66%) and street outreach (65%) on at least one occasion within the past year. Cluster analysis of services revealed four distinct groups: (1) basic...

PURPOSE To understand the needs and challenges encountered by older homeless veterans. METHODS We conducted six focus groups of older veterans, two focus groups, and one semi-structured interview of VA staff liaisons, and two focus groups and one semi-structured interview of housing intervention providers. RESULTS Major themes for older veterans: 1) negative homelessness experience; 2) bene...

Partnerships among local public environmental health (EH), emergency preparedness and response (EPR) programs, and the communities they serve have great potential to build community environmental health emergency preparedness (EHEP) capacity. In the study described in this article, the beliefs and organizational practices pertaining to community EHEP outreach and capacity were explored through ...

PURPOSE The decision by prosthodontic residency program directors to employ the Match process highlights the need to understand applicant priorities that influence their choice of which programs to rank highly. The purpose of this study is to determine the factors that were most important to residents when choosing from among nonmilitary based prosthodontics dental residency programs in the Uni...

One measure of a society’s goodness is how well it cares for its children. This standard has particular importance for vulnerable groups of children, such as those facing special health challenges. Thus, the level of care that children with special needs receive through public programs could be seen as a critical marker of the success of the nation’s publicly funded health insurance programs. T...

Community-based distribution (CBD) programs are the optimum way of reaching people in rural areas of developing countries where conventional methods of delivery do not exist or fail. This paper reviews findings and experiences from over 30 years of efforts to implement CBD of family planning methods around the world. Although research suggests that community-based service delivery can contribut...

With growing fear of a worldwide influenza pandemic, programs that can rapidly vaccinate a broad range of persons are urgently needed. Vaccination rates are low among disadvantaged and hard-to-reach populations living within urban communities, and delivering vaccines to these groups may prove challenging. Project VIVA1 (Venue-Intensive Vaccination for Adults), staffed by teams of nurses and out...

The International Outreach Program of St. Jude Childrens' Research Hospital has been developing programs to help countries with limited resources develop treatment centers to treat children with catastrophic diseases such as pediatric cancer and AIDS. Cure4Kids (www.cure4kids.org) is the Internet learning network that delivers medical education to doctors and nurses on pediatric cancer and AIDS...