CHEER Increases Health Access in Long Branch

The World Health organization defines health promotion as the process of enabling people to increase control over, and to improve, their health. The definition moves beyond a focus on individual behavior towards a wide range of social and environmental interventions. At CHEER the Community Outreach Specialists are committed to developing the health awareness of individuals, groups, and organizations, and empowering them to make healthy choices while leading, supporting, or cooperating in multi-agency projects to promote a healthy context or social environment.

Since the fall of 2015, in collaboration with other community organizations, CHEER helped more than 300 individuals in need of referral to primary care providers, health insurance coverage for them or their family members, and general health information. CHEER Outreach Specialists were able to make appointments for everyone, help them register for health insurance, or provide the health information they needed “when they needed”.

Now, with the support of Susan Komen Foundation, we are getting ready to help women to better understand breast cancer. Understanding that education and early detection is the best way to treat breast cancer, we will be promoting early screening and helping them to schedule appointments for mammograms at MobileMed Clinic.

In the coming months the CHEER’s outreach specialists (Karla Castro, Dolores Badillo, Maribel Juarez, Sonia Reyes, Fitsum Teshome, and Betelhem Abebe) will participate in rigorous trainings conducted by Washington Adventist Hospital on breast screening and blood pressure to continue helping community members increase control over and improve their health.

What other ways would you like to see CHEER helping the health of the Long Branch community?