Happenings In The Field, Issue No. 1

Context

The Cabarrus Health Alliance and El Puente Hispano, grantees of the 2022-2023 North Carolina Behavioral Health Equity Initiative, conducted several listening sessions and community conversations with residents, service providers and city and county agencies. The goal was to better understand barriers experienced by the Latino community in Cabarrus County around access to and utilization of preventative care services and other community supports. Their field work led to the creation of the Community Conversation infographic resources accessible further down the page. The first two resources reflect feedback from residents on barriers to care and their challenges navigating the healthcare system. These “data placemats” were shared with community partners to inform them of the community experience. The final infographic includes some immediate changes implemented by service providers and clinics in response to barriers shared by community residents.

Background

When asked to reflect on the development of these resources, a representative from El Puente Hispano provided the following:

We realized that many participants who do not speak English, and even those who speak it but not fluently, feel more comfortable in an all-Spanish environment. In order to gather their valuable feedback, we created two groups – a leadership group, and a community group. At the community group meetings, we create a safe environment with coffee and food, so participants felt comfortable and confident to share their ideas and challenges. Participants in these meetings included Kannapolis City Schools’ Latino parents, El Puente’s after-school parents, local ESL classes, local Latino community leaders, and more.

We have also developed a survey that we administered at various outreach events, including Latino Family Resource Nights we organized for Kannapolis City Schools and Cabarrus County Schools.