Bringing Health Home

Grantee: Mercy Housing Northwest
Timeframe: July 2014 – June 2017 | Total Amount: $748,932

Year 1: July 2014 – June 2015. Amount: $249,056
Year 2: July 2015 – June 2016. Amount: $249,896
Year 3: July 2016 – June 2017. Amount: $249,980

Mercy Housing Northwest will partner with King County Housing Authority and InterIm Community Development Association to demonstrate the efficacy of Community Health Workers (CHWs) in facilitating access to healthcare resources and improving health outcomes for residents of affordable housing, particularly those with cultural or linguistic barriers. This approach directly aligns with the goals and strategies of both the Washington State Health Care Innovation Plan and King County’s Health & Human Services Transformation. Public Health – Seattle & King County will provide technical assistance to the project on program design and evaluation.

The project will target six affordable housing communities in South King County and Seattle’s Rainier Valley that serve a high percentage of residents who are recent immigrants from East Africa, Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe. The project will employ three CHWs and a Healthcare Coordination Supervisor to provide culturally and linguistically appropriate services to these populations. We will leverage residents’ existing healthcare connections as well as collaborative relationships with community clinics, provider networks, Medicaid Managed Care Organizations (MCOs) and other stakeholders to increase active resident engagement in their wellness and healthcare.

The CHWs will conduct direct outreach to residents to:

• Assist eligible residents year-round to obtain Medicaid coverage or to enroll in subsidized insurance during the next Health Benefit Exchange open enrollment period in late 2014.
• Help connect residents with a Primary Care Physician (PCP) if they do not already have one.
• Work to increase residents’ engagement with their PCP and medical home teams.
• Encourage and motivate residents to adopt and sustain positive changes in health-related behaviors.
• Connect residents to health and wellness programming taking place in their housing communities and elsewhere. CHWs will organize onsite workshops, screenings, presentations and support groups ranging from health education and healthy living topics (such as nutrition, healthy cooking and regular exercise) to evidence-based interventions to prevent and manage chronic conditions (such as smoking cessation, asthma trigger reduction and Chronic Disease Self Management).

In addition to coordinating the work of the CHWs, the Healthcare Coordination Supervisor will be the project’s point person with providers, clinics, MCOs and health educators to build relationships aimed at bringing healthcare resources to affordable housing communities. The position will also work one-on-one with residents who are high utilizers of healthcare resources to engage with their PCP, adhere to care plans, better manage chronic health conditions and reduce unnecessary hospitalizations.