Community Conversations: Sister to Sister Women’s Health Initiative CHNA17 Mental Health Grant September 2016 Model of community engagement addressing disparities in access to high quality health services for Black women living within the US Brings together black women – both healthcare consumers and healthcare professionals – in monthly conversation Promotes bi-directional dialogue allowing women to share knowledge and experience and identify opportunities for self-efficacy, community-efficacy and empowerment Replaces more conventional, hierarchical models for health information exchange where professionals deliver healthcare information to consumers without the opportunity for bilateral engagement and mutual learning Encourages development of information scaffolding, critical assessment skills and gathering of tools and strategies Focal areas: Health Literacy/Tools Preserving and Promoting Physical and Emotional Health Navigating Healthcare Systems Assisting participants’ search for the highest quality care for themselves and their families

Sample Conversations

Outcomes & Lessons Learned Some early data: “If we had come together as women, this way, to think about these things all along, we wouldn’t be in this kind of trouble.” “Community Conversations has not only educated and calmed my fears about the medical field but was a source of help when my siblings were diagnosed at a young age…There was a topic on…and I was able to share my story about my siblings. The providers not only helped me understand what was happening to my siblings but they explained the importance of being screened for a genetic condition….stayed connected to the providers…[who] helped me to understand, navigate and support my family through a difficult time in our lives.” On the experience of participating: “I liked the fact that you can actually—that there are practitioners that look like us...And make me feel—well make us understand what we’re asking, and then also make us feel comfortable that we can actually have a dialogue when we see our doctor” “I met a provider there with my problems that I still see to this day. So it was immediate, the benefit…Because the conversation was about depression. And I said, I need help, I need to talk to somebody to find out if there are resources that I could afford to do... So I said, I gotta go.”   On the ability to inspire change: “I have a tendency to say to myself that this is not an area of expertise that I share with my medical professional – that’s his or her job to know this stuff, and my job is to be compliant. Okay? They have the knowledge, they tell me what to do. My job is to do it (but) there could be components to one’s health in healthcare that are influenced by race and gender that largely the medical community is blind to…I’ve come to understand, …And because they don’t know, I – being quiet and compliant – may, I may be doing a disservice to myself.” “I'm not going to forget and you may have your 15 minutes but if your 15 minutes doesn't cover all of this, we're not leaving. I'm not getting dressed!” On changes to the way consumers think about their role in the healthcare team: “it’s actually important to tell the doctor everything and not leave out any details versus…being subjective of what information you give them. And I’ve been to the doctor with my mom. But, I just–sometimes I felt like my mom talks too much. And now I’m like, now I know why she talks so much.” “(With) Community Conversations you do realize that your health services- they are just that, services. Services. Just like you know when you go to the grocery store and you want…the best produce. Community Conversations has made me a much better advocate.”  “I don’t just sit and listen, if I feel that I don’t understand something, I feel ok to ask a question where it doesn’t—where I don’t come off like I’m challenging them. You know, I know how to ask them without bruising their ego, even though I am questioning what they’re telling me.” Lessons learned: Consumers expressed desires to learn from women who not only understood their health risks, but who were also at risk for the same health outcomes Because the environment encourages sharing, consumers often purposely do not invite their close friends/family to protect their own privacy Consumers are interested in accessing resources and information that has been vetted by members of their own community, with their community in mind Consumers are often aware of how excited the providers are to meet one another