Stapleton Foundation and 2040 Partners in Health:
Building Public Will to Achieve Access to Health

In 2005, the Stapleton Foundation launched its be well Health and Wellness initiative as a direct response to residents' growing concern for health access and resource challenges in the Stapleton, Northeast Park Hill, Greater Park Hill, East Montclair and Northwest Aurora neighborhoods. One year later, the organization collaborated with the University of Colorado and 2040 Partners for Health to complete a research study (the "Taking Neighborhood Health to Heart" study, which has since become an organization) that revealed people in these neighborhoods suffer from many preventable chronic illnesses, such as diabetes, obesity, high cholesterol and hypertension. Today, be well works in collaboration with various partners – including 2040 Partners for Health - to develop, implement and evaluate strategies to reduce the spread of chronic illnesses and disease through grassroots community involvement in the advancement of health programs, policies and research projects.

This unique community collaborative has focused its efforts on encouraging people to participate in preventive measures, believing the best way to make connections and share information is through friends, family members and neighbors. "We've learned that people are more receptive to information when it comes from someone they can relate to. It's like going to a person of trust to guide them to the services," said be well Director Alisha Brown.

The Stapleton Foundation identifies residents to train as "block captains" those who have an interest in improving awareness and understanding about health and are committed to sharing information with their neighbors through one-on-one communications. The annual Neighborhood Health Summit, hosted by 2040 Partners for Health, is a valuable opportunity to identify and recruit residents interested in being block captains. be well then hosts regular health screenings, and the block captains encourage their friends, family members and neighbors to attend.

"The philosophy is to use a grassroots effort through the neighborhoods we work in," said block captain project manager Frank Lucero. "We've advertised in local newspapers, through people who volunteered before, people at community groups. We've recruited over 40 block captains."

Helen Rigmaiden canvasses her neighborhood notifying people of upcoming health screenings.

Helen Rigmaiden has been a block captain for three years. She has a background in health care administration and community organizing. When first approached by the Stapleton Foundation, she was excited about the synergy between the be well initiative and her own experience. She said, "I couldn't believe what a good fit it was."

Helen said she knocks on doors throughout her neighborhood and gives people the flier advertising the upcoming health screening. "I explain what's on the flier, that it's a free program, they get the results that day and there will be providers there to assist them," she said. People can be screened for blood pressure, height, weight, cholesterol, flexibility, strength and body mass index (BMI).

Alisha said the need for services has been so great that it led block captains to be interested in holding additional discussions about health reform and advocacy. "They've seen us get people to the screenings and then not be able to treat all of them, or people who just need behavioral counseling on preventive behavior and we have no way to do that. So these block captains want to make sure there are additional resources," she said.

Block captains also screen residents for health insurance status. If they are found to be uninsured, residents can be referred to the Inner City Health Center where they are screened for eligibility for public health insurance such as Medicare, Medicaid or Children's Health Plan

(CHP+). Inner City Health then can provide an ongoing continuum of care with a sliding scale fee for uninsured patients. As new benefits are implemented through the federal health reform law, block captains are receiving training to be able to refer residents to additional resources to potentially gain insurance coverage.

"We have to make it tangible. Even though people know there is something going on with health care and they hear the words ‘federal health care reform', it doesn't register until it impacts them directly," Alisha explained. "So when our community members start to see the barriers that exist to them getting the care they need, they come back to our monthly meetings and start talking about the challenges, and they start asking what they can do to make change. Then we can provide them with tools to help address those challenges. That's how we mobilize our community, ... and they in turn take the information and spread it back out to their networks, so it really grows."

As part of The Trust's public will-building effort, Stapleton Foundation is partnering with 2040 Partners for Health, and working with the 13 other grantee partners, to connect with and activate different networks, advocates and communities.

Alisha added, "There are just so many opportunities to work with others that we didn't previously know about and it's allowing us to expand our reach."