OUR STORY

Alameda County Health Coach Program (ACHCP) was founded in 2014 through the support of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s workforce development program. The purpose of the program was to employ young People of Color in healthcare positions that would directly benefit patients in Alameda County. By employing young
adults, ACHCP prepares culturally sensitive individuals to gain entry into the allied health field and simultaneously meet the healthcare industry’s need for diverse healthcare professionals.

Although various health systems utilize community health workers to deliver care that supplements the medical model, most of these programs serve as an extension of primary care. The ACHCP is the first to provide health coaching directly from the Emergency Department (ED) with the goal of improving medication adherence, linkage to primary care, and fewer readmissions to the ED. Alameda County Health Coach Program is a cost-effective modality that provides a link to establishing a medical home while serving as a link to entry level career opportunities.

OUR METHODS

 During a 4 to 6-month period, CHWs receive over 180 hours of training by program trainers and 144 hours of coursework by education providers on COVID specific health literacy, chronic disease management, patient advocacy, access to health care, systems and resource navigation, and social determinants of health. The curriculum is developed from years of research and implementation and includes components of UCSF’s Health Coach Curriculum.

Program Director

Dantia hudson, mph

Dantia attended UC Berkeley, she earned a BA in Sociology. She earned her Master of Public Health, Maternal and Child Health from Boston University.  She worked for the Alameda County Health Pipeline Partnership as the Data and Research Manager and as a Senior Health Educator for Kaiser Permanente. In her current role, she trains CHWs while also helping those with rich lived experience transition into roles with livable wages. She has taught public health classes at Mills College and the California Institute of Integral Studies. Her innate curiosity, thirst for knowledge, and passion for education makes her comfortable teaching both in the classroom and public health spaces.  She is a trained doula, childbirth educator, and lactation consultant. Tia lives near her native Oakland with her husband and two children.