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Houston County OKs partnership with Minnesota Community Health Worker Alliance; dementia cafe pilot described
Summary
The board authorized the public health supervisor to sign a signatory agreement with the Minnesota Community Health Worker Alliance to support a new community health worker position; staff also described a recently launched dementia cafe and outreach plans.
Houston County public-health staff described plans to develop the county's new community health worker (CHW) position through a signatory agreement with the Minnesota Community Health Worker Alliance and the board authorized the public health supervisor to sign the agreement.
Public-health staff said the agreement would allow the county's CHW to join a cohort for additional training and to learn billing procedures that could enable the CHW to bill for some services. "This gives us the opportunity to kinda partner with us, like, an alliance through the state that gives us opportunities for our community health worker to kind of, partner with other community health workers and just opens the door for training, development," a staff presenter said. Staff told commissioners the agreement does not cost the county and would help the new position progress toward certification; the CHW begins courses in January and is expected to finish by year'end.
The public-health presenter also described a dementia cafe pilot: a 90-minute, informal gathering that combines social time and local history discussion with light activities and resources from partners such as the Alzheimer's Association and Mayo Clinic. Staff said the first session had poor attendance due to weather but that outreach will continue.
The board approved the agreement by voice vote.
Next steps: Public-health staff will proceed with the signatory relationship and training plan for the CHW and continue outreach for the dementia-cafe program.
