Detroit's East Side Village Health Worker Partnership: community-based lay health advisor intervention in an urban area

Abstract

In recent years, there have been few reports in the literature of interventions using a lay health advisor approach in an urban area. Consequently, little is known about how implementation of this type of community health worker model, which has been used extensively in rural areas, may differ in an urban area. This article describes the implementation of the East Side Village Health Worker Partnership, a lay health advisor intervention, in Detroit, Michigan, and notes how participatory action research methods and principles for community-based partnership research are being used to guide the intervention. Findings are presented on how the urban context is affecting the design and implementation of this intervention. Implications of the findings for health educators are also presented and include the utility of a participatory action research approach, the importance of considering the context and history of a community in designing a health education intervention, and the importance of recognizing and considering the differences between rural and urban settings when designing a health education intervention.