Community Partner Newsletter Volume 6 Summer
Table of Contents Who We Are and What We Do: Community Health Worker for HUSKY Health Families!���������������������������������3 Nutrition Education Program Addition����������������4 Contact Information����������������������������������������������5 d Ambassador Program �����������������������������������������2 Community Partners in Action (CPA)�������������������3 Partner Spotlight: Exciting News j j
HUSKY Health Community Partner Newsletter
Volume 8
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Welcome
to
Spring From Community Health Network of Connecticut, Inc. ® (CHNCT).
CHNCT values your feedback. That’s why we would like to invite our community partners and stakeholders to participate in a short survey about your experience with us. On April 30th, we’ll send you a survey to assess how we’re doing as an organization. The survey will only take five minutes to complete, and your responses will help us improve our services for you.
HUSKY Health Community Partner Newsletter Page 1 Community Health Network of Connecticut, Inc. ® (CHNCT) is the State of Connecticut’s Medical Administrative Services Organization for the HUSKY Health program.
Who We Are and What We Do Community Health Worker Ambassador Program
Our Community Health Workers (CHWs) help people who struggle with basic needs and use of the healthcare system. They listen to individual needs and concerns and can provide members with the best resources to navigate their situation. Many of our CHWs live and work in the same neighborhoods as our members and have diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds. Our CHWs serve as ambassadors for the HUSKY Health program. They are committed to building equity through diversity, inclusion, and community engagement efforts. CHWs work to help members reach positive health outcomes regardless of ability, age, cultural background, ethnicity, faith, gender, gender identity, ideology, income, national origin, race, or sexual orientation.
Our CHWs work with members one-on-one to:
• Advocate for, and connect them to, the correct organizations or people to address their needs. • Connect them to resources in their community to help with clothing, shelter, food, childcare, and more. • Help them find a Primary Care Provider (PCP) and assist with scheduling their first appointment. • Help them understand and access their HUSKY Health benefits. • Listen to their needs, help create a plan to meet those needs, and guide them along the way to make sure they’re able to get the services available to them. • Meet in-person, in an agreed-upon location in their own community. • Provide health education that is culturally and linguistically relatable. • Support healthcare needs so they can be as healthy as possible. • Teach them how to navigate the healthcare system.
Our CHWs can be reached at 1.800.859.9889, extension 4326, Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
HUSKY Health Community Partner Newsletter Page 2 Community Health Network of Connecticut, Inc. ® (CHNCT) is the State of Connecticut’s Medical Administrative Services Organization for the HUSKY Health program.
Community Partners in Action (CPA) This past November, CHNCT joined forces with Community Partners in Action (CPA) to bring the Community Engagement HUB program to the Greater Hartford and Waterbury Reentry Welcome Centers (RWCs). For nearly 150 years, CPA has been on the frontlines helping people affected by the criminal justice system return to the community with the tools they need to be successful. Twice a month, CHNCT’s CHWs are on-site at the RWCs to provide HUSKY Health benefit education and community resources to help CPA participants with SDOH needs. RWCs connect individuals who are recently released from prison with a large network of community partners, who provide timely and vital services and support to help ensure their successful reentry. According to a representative from CPA, “whether someone is transported to us by the Connecticut Department of Correction (CT DOC) on their day of release or walks into the Center, staff will welcome each person, provide an individual assessment of their needs, and make referrals to our partners for wrap-around services.” It is CPA’s belief that everyone can change for the better.
In photo: Christian Rivera, Community Health Worker, CHNCT
Our new partnership has already demonstrated improved outcomes at the Waterbury RWC, where a participant was recently unable to find a healthcare provider. An RWC staff member reached out to a CHW from the Community Transition Program at CHNCT (seen in photo above), for assistance, who was able to get the participant an appointment with a local doctor within a week!
Partner Spotlight Exciting News for HUSKY Health Families! We’re thrilled to announce our partnership with Read to Grow, a Connecticut-based non-profit organization dedicated to promoting early childhood literacy. Working together, we are committed to enhancing the lives of HUSKY Health members and their families through the power of reading. Our community health workers are bringing the joy of reading directly to you! Look for our tables at HUBs, events, and food pantries across the state. We’ll have a variety of books for children ages 0 to 10, in both English and Spanish — all free to our HUSKY Health members. Please encourage HUSKY Health members to visit our Community Events calendar at https://www.huskyhealthct.org/members/health-events.html to find a HUB site or community event near them. Books will be available throughout the year on a first-come, first-served basis. Stay tuned for more updates and get ready to spread the love of reading in our HUSKY Health community. To learn more about Read to Grow, visit www.readtogrow.org.
HUSKY Health Community Partner Newsletter Page 3 Community Health Network of Connecticut, Inc. ® (CHNCT) is the State of Connecticut’s Medical Administrative Services Organization for the HUSKY Health program.
Nutrition Education Program Addition CHNCT is thrilled to announce a valuable addition to our Community Affairs & Engagement team. Nargis Karampurwala is our new HUSKY Health nutrition education manager. Nargis comes to us with a decade of experience formerly managing the Cooking Matters CT program and we are confident that her expertise will contribute greatly to our mission of promoting nutritional health and well-being in our communities and to our HUSKY Health members. In her new role, Nargis will be spearheading initiatives to enhance nutrition awareness with the Fat Attack™ and Sugar Rush programs while developing a hands-on educational program to foster a healthier lifestyle for all HUSKY Health members. We believe her passion for nutrition education will inspire positive changes in the communities we serve.
Sugar Rush: This program targets topics such as the effects of sugary drinks on our body and teeth. We discuss and do an interactive game where participants spin the wheel and scoop out how many teaspoons of sugar they think are in various beverages, in a range of serving sizes. Participants are also shown the Fizz to Fat model explaining how drinking too many
Fat Attack™: This exhibit teaches participants that eating foods with fat isn’t bad. Our bodies actually need fat to properly absorb important nutrients like Vitamin D, A, E, and K. It also helps us to stay full and satisfied with our meals, which can help us avoid overindulging in less healthy foods later in the day. We have tubes showing the ratio of saturated & unsaturated fats in various foods.
empty calories from sugary beverages can turn into fat.
For any nutrition education inquiries or to learn more about the program, please contact Nargis Karampurwala at Nkarampurwala@CHNCT.org. To schedule and partner with us for a Fat Attack™ and/or Sugar Rush presentation, please contact Kellie Gilbert at kgilbert@chnct.org.
HUSKY Health Community Partner Newsletter Page 4 Community Health Network of Connecticut, Inc. ® (CHNCT) is the State of Connecticut’s Medical Administrative Services Organization for the HUSKY Health program.
@ Contact Information To learn how your organization can become a HUB partner and be featured in our partner newsletter, please contact: Jacquiline Darkwa Community Engagement Coordinator 203.626.7227 jdarkwa@chnct.org Elvin Melendez Director, Community Affairs & Engagement 203.949.4080 emelendez@chnct.org Amber Taylor Administrative Coordinator 203.949.9143 ataylor@chnct.org For information on our nutrition education programs or to request a workshop, please contact: Kellie Gilbert Community Health Educator II 203.303.3932 kgilbert@chnct.org Nargis Karampurwala Manager, Nutrition Education 203.303.3908 nkarampurwala@chnct.org
HUSKY Health Secure Member Portal The HUSKY Health Secure Member Portal gives members secure access to their eligibility information, primary care provider, printable HUSKY Health Member ID card, and more! Members can create an account or log in to their existing account by clicking here.
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HUSKY Health Community Partner Newsletter Page 5 Community Health Network of Connecticut, Inc. ® (CHNCT) is the State of Connecticut’s Medical Administrative Services Organization for the HUSKY Health program.
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