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The Healthy Project is hosted by Corey Dion Lewis, Clinical Health Coach fora safety net hospital. Because of his experience working directly with patients in underserved communities, Corey felt the need to speak up address the issues, and provide solutions to improve the healthcare experience for the ones that need it the most. The Healthy Project Podcast addresses topics related to health equity, prevention, diversity, and literacy for healthcare professionals addressing today's and tomorrow's biggest challenges. Thought leaders, entrepreneurs, and industry experts share their approaches to transforming healthcare into something meaningful and lasting.
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Hello everybody. Thank you for listening to the healthy project podcast. I'm your host Cory D. On Lewis today I got a great guest with me in the building today talking about a profession that has When you think about community health work shit like we should be thinking talking about this a lot more because definitely Really really important things in not just our community here, but community health workers across the country. Yes we have Chrissy here with
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about CARElon Health. Kristy, thank you so much for being here. I really appreciate it. Thank you for having me. It's an honor. Yeah, so before we get into the conversation, talking more about community health work, what you do, and the impact, tell me a little bit about yourself and what gets you up in the morning. What gets me up in the morning? I feel like I finally found my niche, something that I actually look forward to doing. So what gets me going is just the day-to-day basis, what I'm looking forward to
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the direct contact with the patients. When they come into the clinic just being able to know that I'm going to be make a difference in their life that's rewarding to me. Yeah so you talked about your journey share with us how where how did that journey start how did you get from where you were to you know it clicking for being a community health worker? And that's a good question so I was a medical insurance coordinator for 14 years and I loved it but it was more like behind the
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out of pockets, but I alwa like in the social work h and what kind of drove me I work in the community t So that was like a strong a lot of the patients tha maybe people I grew up wi a couple of family members just being able to be an in the community because of a lot of times they do
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So just being able to be a positive force for them. Yeah. So what does that day look like? So I know you see you see people in the office. I'm sure you're out. Yeah. You're out in the community doing stuff, too. Yes. So what is so for those that don't know who have never heard of a community health worker, those that are listening or watching probably have, but those who have not, what is a typical day of a community health worker? What does that look like? Typical day for me. So every day we get like a discharge list of patients
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to the emergency. Okay. So we make outreach calls to them just to follow up with them to see if they want to schedule like a post hospital post er follow up appointment. So where they're like primary main contact after their discharge. Okay. So even a lot of times they don't want to schedule like a post er follow up appointment. So we just let them know we also offer physicals, immunizations, we are assigned as your primary care provider. A lot of times they don't know who they're assigned to. So just making that awareness.
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common for a hospital follow-up. We offer different services just to kind of know that just to let them know that we care about their continued care. Right so you really you really help with that that transition of care. Yes. And doing a lot of those things which is important because one when they when they leave the hospital
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like they need, there's things that they need. Yeah. And I've experienced, now I'm not a community health worker, but I've experienced people leaving the hospital and not getting their medication. Definitely. Or not even knowing they had something at the pharmacy. Yeah, a lot of times they don't know. And unfortunately, what I've noticed is a lot of people use their emergency room visits as their primary care provider. Yes. I mean, and not only is that expensive with insurance in the healthcare field,
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but they use that as a constant. I have a cold, I have a cough, not saying there's anything wrong with that. But we want them to continue to follow up not just at the emergency, but with their primary care physician. Right? Have you ever do so do patients do they follow up with you? Or you always make them the direct contact? Yeah, so they do follow up with us. And we make it aware where their primary care provider. Because like I said, a lot of times they don't know. We get patients that come into the clinic on a regular basis that are regular patients.
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But a lot of times some patients just go anywhere. They don't really look on their card because if you look on your card It says who you're assigned to They just kind of go anywhere. So we make that awareness. No, you know if you need to check up physical Please make sure you're coming to your primate because they're actually assigned to us. Oh got you. Yeah got you um You said you're from the community and you work in the community that you were born and raised in. Yes um I find that as such a cheat code for the community people like oh
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Yeah, because I know the resource. I know the resources. I know the community. The people are familiar there. And I think not only familiar, but they're comfortable. Like they see a familiar face and they're more open and prone to, okay, this is someone that I can relate to. Yeah. Have you ever experienced someone telling you something because they know you that they probably should have told their provider? Yeah. And that's the thing. That's where that comfort comes into. They're like, hey, you know,
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through this and other. I got kicked out of here. I mean, because we do as a community health worker, we do help with food, shelter, clothing. A lot of patients might have like substance abuse, behavioral issues. So it can kind of get personal. So I have to kind of set those boundaries like, you know, you might want to let your primary care provider know they'd be more than willing to help you. Yeah, I'm like the mediator, but I don't want to get too, too involved. But I want them to be able
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Well, there's something to one, seeing somebody that looks like you. Yes. Or someone that they may be view. That's not really in the health, like not really in the healthcare space, even though you are, but you're seen as, oh, you're, you're in the community. Yeah. You know, I can, I can trust you. Yes, I can trust. That's the thing. And it's about building that trust and that communication and that rapport so that they feel comfortable. Yeah. Cause there have been many times where I've had to tell people, you know, I have to tell you what you just told me.
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Yeah, exactly. Just so you know, I'm letting your doctor know. Just so there's no confusion, I'm going to put it out there. I'm going to let your doctor know. Yeah. Yeah. You have to, I mean, that's like, I mean, kind of like a mandatory reporter. Absolutely. I mean, you have to have the patience and nothing. It's, you can keep it like personal to a certain extent, but
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you have to put their interest, their health as their best interest. Absolutely. Absolutely. What are some of the challenges you feel like you've experienced since you've been in this role? Has there been anything that's been the challenge for you? I would definitely say there's two and I'll keep it short because I'll go on and on. But I would say, too, it's homelessness. I guess it's it's really sad because and it's not just in our community, it's everywhere.
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it can be from the east side, the south side, I've even seen West Des Moines. It's everywhere, so patients will come in for appointment and they're like, I'm homeless, I need somewhere to stay. And it's just finding those resources for them.
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It's hard because there's waiting lists or there's no openings or you have to meet certain criteria or It's just a lot of stipulations when it comes to finding shelters for patients So that is a struggle on struggle and I think food insecurity Talk about that when you say food. I would say food insecurity because a lot of times patients come in and that's another thing that they struggle with is food, but It's like we can give them the resources as far as where pantries are located
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not have transportation, right? They don't have that access to care type of, okay, here's the pantry, but this, you need to go here these specific days and times. And some people, they can't go that specific timeframe or they don't have transportation, which I, the transportation one has been, I've been on a big transportation kick lately because it, you're, you're right. It's a huge one. And if you don't have, first of all, you know,
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Depending on the food pantry you go to depend is what?
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What are you going to get there that's nutritious? And the thing is, a lot of patients are diabetic. So they're like, I can't give you a bunch of donuts and Krispy Kreme and pastries. I mean, anything is something is better than nothing. But a lot of times they're like, do you have any healthy food items? Yeah. And if we don't at that time, it's kind of like, this is unfortunately what we have right now. This is what we have. Exactly. And that becomes a problem. And there are, I'm not saying there aren't pantries out there that don't have. Right. Yeah. There are definitely some. You know, fresh fruits and vegetables. So there are some.
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But again, what about that person that can't get there? Yes. Or during the times that are there. Right. You know what I mean? That makes it a lot harder. Definitely. So you talk a little bit about being in the community and working with patients with, you know, getting them transition to care, you talk to, you know, finding them resources. I know a big one that has been a major focus for you two lately has been the Medicaid.
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Yeah. Talk about how you're working with patients with that. What's that process been like? That process, it's a difficult process, but I think it comes into play as far as the communication and the information. And I've been guilty where you get something in the mail and you just kind of set it aside or it gets lost in the drawer that has a million things in it. But just letting the patients know beforehand, this is what you can expect. You're going
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A lot of times when they send out like re-determinations, you have to reapply or reinstate. It's time sensitive. So you have to fill out that information and get it sent back by a specific time. If not, your benefits can be canceled. And then it's a process of getting reinstated and not even reinstating, but just completely reapplying, submitting all your information, which is a whole nother headache. A lot of times with that or in certain situations, there's communication or language barriers.
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come in that doesn't read or speak English. So just being able to come in and as a community health care community health worker making that call for them I'm getting an interpreter on the line so that they understand this is what this is what this says and what this is what this means. So it's a huge communication just being that advocate again just let them know just walking them through the steps from like the beginning the middle and the end don't
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you can expect. This is what you'll find out in six weeks, but just let them know the whole process. Right. And that's what I was curious about because there are people there that are don't speak the language. Maybe can't read the language, or maybe don't have low literacy to begin with. And they can see it, but they don't know what it is. They don't know. Yeah. So that's where, and that's why with a community health worker, I would say you have to have a lot of patience. It's not like, and it's, things are always changing.
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and unexpected. So you have to be able to be patient, listen, be an active listener. Don't just tell the patient what they want to hear, but actually break it down to them and then get their, like what their understanding and their comprehensive level is. So that's important. Do you find yourself...
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kind of coaching more as a community health worker? What is that like? So I am a certified life coach too. So I feel like I have like these certifications that kind of help me as a community health worker. So I have like a mental health certification, community health workers. So they kind of help you with those communication skills with your role. Right. But a lot of it, to me, I feel like it kind of comes naturally, but those things are just extra perks. Oh, it is,
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to know how to talk to someone or just to understand yourself to be able to understand others and why they are you know how how they are I think understanding yourself and being able to be open open-minded you really have to be open-minded. Oh my goodness yes yeah definitely. How has the COVID pandemic affected your role as a community health worker particularly in the
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with the COVID era that was pretty difficult because I'm a people person and I'm more about patient engagement and face to face interaction. So during that time we did a lot of knocking on doors and during that time it was hard because during COVID people didn't want to be within so many feet of people. I know they're peeking through the window and like curtain shutting the curtains. Right. But that was hard just because we, we did lose a lot of patients.
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because they weren't leaving the house or they weren't coming in, but just sending out flyers, knocking on doors, making phone calls, just continuing to keep that patient engagement. Yeah, I would find it to be very hard if you're supposed to be in the community. Right. And there's something that you can't control is keeping you from doing that and having to get creative with that. Exactly. So we tried every alternative that we could think of. Yeah.
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some success rates, but I'm just glad that we are where we are now. Right. Oh, absolutely. Yeah. What advice would you give somebody who is wanting to get into this work of community health work? I would say don't get discouraged or don't think it's something that you can't do. And I would say with a community health worker or any change, because you're never too old, you're never not educated enough. Like I said, I was a medical insurance coordinator for
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This is something that I wanted to do so I feel like life is short you want to do something This is you spend the majority of your day at your your occupation doing what you do So you might as well do something that you love and if it's something community health is what you want to do I'd say go for it a hundred percent I mean follow your passion where you see the where do you see the profession because we hear about it a lot And yeah, a lot of organizations are are employing community health workers Where do you see this going in the in the future?
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Are you know, especially with your position you've been how long have you been a community health worker? I've only been doing this about a year, but it feels like a lifetime I've always been helping people my whole life. So now this is like my job So I feel like I've been doing it my whole life But this is I've been doing this about a year and I see it going Where I see it go where I would like to see it going is more community health workers coming together I'm just as far as like sharing their resources and sharing what works for them and What doesn't because I feel like a lot of my
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connections are from either co-workers or it could be I have like a couple connections at churches and that's where I find my resources at like from churches I got a couple food pantries set up with that with schools just community health workers coming together as far as like what works for them right resources yeah that's so important yes that's we're all helping this we're all
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performer fashion. It could be from a minimal degree to a higher scale, but we all need some type of resource or assistance. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. Um, Chrissy, thank you so much for being here. Thank you for having me. It was a pleasure. That wasn't that bad. It was not that bad. I felt calm and relaxed. It was just having a regular conversation. I can breathe now. I can breathe. Yeah. No, that was, I, I enjoyed it. Yeah. For anybody
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are watching that wants to learn more about what you do or just connect with you. Where can they find you? So we are located at 1530 East Euclid and then I also wanted to say we have a patient or community health fair coming up on May 29th. I'm not sure the hours but I think it's going to be all day. Okay. And that's going to focus on nutrition and blood pressure. So anybody's welcome to come. We're going to start trying to have them at least like once a month. Okay. So 1530 East
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clinic and I will be there. Yeah well send me the link I'll make sure I put it in the description of this episode. Perfect. Again, Chrissy, thank you so much for being here. Thank you so much for having me. And everybody, thank you for listening to the Healthy Project podcast. I'll holla at you next time.