Community Health Education

Sponsored by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) through the Fulton County Department of Health and Wellness, the REACH program's goal is to organize and train churches, beauty salons and barber shops in the Atlanta Empowerment Zone as Cardiovascular Wellness Centers to reduce cardiovascular disease (including strokes) in African American communities. Churches are recruited based on their willingness to initiate and maintain the program. In order to become a Cardiovascular Wellness Center, the churches agree to:

• Incorporate health promotion information in the church bulletins each week;
• Follow-up with participants on their commitments to seek medical help;
• Sponsor routine community health activities.

The leaders identify at least ten (10) committed volunteers who are trained as lay health educators called Health Promotion Specialists (HPS). These specialists from the various (REACH) churches form a coalition of volunteers empowered to positively impact the health of members of their communities.