East County partners meet for HealthConnect Cohort

On March 18, partners of SWACH’s HealthConnect Hub met at White Salmon’s Skyline Hospital for the bimonthly East County Cohort Meeting.

Community Health Workers (CHWs) and leaders from SWACH, Skamania County Community Health, Washington Gorge Action program (WAGAP), Next Door Inc. and Recovery Café participated in teamwork forming activities and engaged in harm reduction training.

“Some of my participants, they don't even know about some resources available,” said CHW Mary Solorio of Washington Gorge Action Programs. “That’s just a joy to be able to share all those resources with people that are in need.”

When working with a client, most Community Health Workers agreed building trust was key.

“You have to be able to trust them and they have to be able to trust you. They’re not going to work with you unless they don't have trust,” says CHW Melinda Vassallo of Skamania Community Health. “Sometimes it's only doing just doing one small little thing for them in order to gain that trust. Whether it's let's make a phone call or let's get that taken care of for you today.”

While trust is key, CHWs also bring attention to those underserved in the community who may go unnoticed.

“I think of this really specific instance -- we discovered someone who had lost the ability to clean her house,” says Abby Brandt Whelan, Pathways Department Director at Washington Gorge Action Program. “We were able to hire some cleaners to come in as an agency.”

Whelan continued that after having the home cleaned, CHWs connected the client to in-home care and resources for mental health assessment.

“This is someone who didn't have family involved to do that advocacy, to notice week from week how her behavior was changing and how her memory was deteriorating,” Whelan says. “Someone has noticed and drawn attention to this outside of a 15-minute appointment once every three months with her doctor's office. Now the family is starting to buy into the fact that this individual needs support.”

In addition to gathering for teamwork building exercises, East County Cohort members took part in training from SWACH’s HealthConnect Networks Manager Nichole Hamberger.

The demonstration included a breakdown of how to properly administer naloxone through the nasal passage and intramuscular, as well as education on the benefits of harm reduction.

During the Cohort meeting, Vassallo expressed appreciation for Skamania County Community Health’s partnership with SWACH.

“After (SWACH’s) first year, we were brought into the program when they were ready to start working with people -- basically, we've been there since the beginning,” Vassallo says. “They've watched us grow and we’ve watched them grow… they're very supportive with the things that we need.”