查看文章

Downstate New York Healthy Start (DNYHS) is a community-university partnership that promotes healthy families with infants by improving access to health and social services in several underserved communities in the New York City and Long Island metropolitan area. At the heart of this effort are peer case managers, located in three community-based organizations, who provide outreach and referral services and health education, and whose experiences serve as the focal point for this abstract. Many case managers come from backgrounds similar to their clients, thus, they have similar environmental, social, and psychological risks. DNYHS addresses this by providing case management consultations and quarterly training and support meetings. DNYHS local agencies utilize case management consultants to perform case reviews and consultations, separate myths from reality about barriers and beliefs, and work to set boundaries between the case management staff and clients. DNYHS also holds quarterly projectwide training meetings to address capacity issues common across the agencies. DNYHS case managers use these meetings as an ongoing source of professional and psychosocial support. At these gatherings, they share best practices, solve professional problems common throughout the group, and support each other. According to one case manager, ìit's a chance to vent and share information and solve each other's problems Ö we get a chance to learn from one another and whatever we learn, we use... It's an excellent source of support. î The DNYHS model serves as a useful example for other programs employing community …