Abstract
A community health education program has been established by the Department of Community Health Sciences of Duke University Medical Center in two target areas of Durham County, North Carolina. The program trains unpaid lay people, “health facilitators”, to whom others already turn for help, to increase their competency for advising and referring community residents to appropriate community resources.
Several methods for identifying potential health facilitators have been developed. Evaluation of the role of health facilitators hinges upon designing measures to demonstrate their existence in the community and the impact that they make. To be successful, the training of health facilitators should result in improving the quality of the advice they give their fellows. It is also important to assess the cultural acceptability of the facilitators' advice and to ensure that their helping role in the community is not disturbed by the possible professionalization of their role due to the training program.
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Additional information
The authors are with the Division of Community Health Models, Department of Community Health Sciences, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina 27710. Dr. Salber is Professor, Community Health Sciences, and Director, Community Health Models; Mr. Beery is Associate and Director, Community Health Education Program; and Ms. Jackson is Associate and Health Education Specialist, Community Health Education Program. This study was aided by a grant from the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation. The authors wish to thank Dr. David P. Phillips, Associate Professor of Sociology, University of California at San Diego, for his valuable criticisms and comments and Dr. John Cassel, Professor of Epidemiology at the University of North Carolina, School of Public Health, for his interest in and encouragement of this program.
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Salber, E.J., Beery, W.L. & Jackson, E.J.R. The role of the health facilitator in community health education. J Community Health 2, 5–20 (1976). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01349488
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01349488