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For more information, contact
Meredith Ferraro, 203-332-5215

HCC OFFERS TRAINING COURSE FOR HEALTH CARE OUTREACH WORKERS

BRIDGEPORT - Housatonic Community College and the Southwestern Area Health Education Center (SW AHEC) will offer an eight- week training course for community health outreach workers starting July 9.

The course, funded through a $400,000 federal Community Outreach Partnership Centers (COPC) grant HCC received, will train workers to bridge the cultural chasm that hinders access to needed health care services, said Center

Executive Director Meredith Ferraro. “The changing demographics in society have created the need for community health outreach workers,” she said. “The sheer number of languages spoken the area raises a very important question: how do you help these people access health care services?”

The course, she said, will focus on training outreach workers to scale the linguistic and cultural barriers that hinder access. That training will include developing communication skills and cultural competency, which will enable the workers to outline health care options available, consistent with each person’s cultural framework.

At the same time, the workers will be made aware of the health care resources available to area residents, and taught how to make the necessary referrals for their clients. They’ll also be taught how to advocate for their clients.

The course will meet Tuesdays and Thursdays for eight weeks in Room B125 at the college. The Tuesday session will meet from 6-9 p.m. while the Thursday session will beet from 8-11 a.m. For more information, contact Ferraro at 203-332-5215

SW AHEC, an affiliate of Housatonic Community College, is one of four such centers in the state. The Center’s mission is to enhance access to quality healthcare, particularly primary and preventive care, in southern Fairfield and New Haven counties by increasing the number and distribution of health care professionals.

The Center provides continuing education, technical assistance and training programs for area health as well as health careers recruitment programs for grades K-12. The Center also promotes health and increased disease prevention in response to community needs, with emphasis on underserved areas and populations having demonstrated serious unmet health care needs.

With a five-year-old campus in the heart of Connecticut's largest city, Housatonic is one of the region's fastest-growing public community colleges. Since it moved to the new campus in January 1997, HCC's enrollment has increased by 61 percent.

According to the most recent statistics released by the Washington D.C.-based American Association of Community Colleges, HCC was ranked as the second fastest-growing community college in New England.

In response to increased enrollments and changing workplace needs both regionally and nationally, HCC has increased the number of programs offered from 43 to 65 since moving to the new campus.

The college is located at 900 Lafayette Blvd. in Bridgeport, less than 150 yards off I-95 and Rte. 8.