Expanding Health Care Coverage

Grantee Name

New York Academy of Medicine

Funding Area

Expanding Health Care Coverage

Publication Date

October 2011

Grant Amount

$72,357

Grant Date:

July 1, 2008 – June 30, 2009

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Compared to U.S. born residents, immigrants and their families have limited access to health care services.

Community-based organizations (CBOs) are key institutions within many immigrant communities that can provide educational, navigational, and advocacy services that facilitate improved access to care for individual clients and for immigrants overall. The New York Academy of Medicine’s (NYAM’s) Center for Evaluation evaluated the implementation and the effectiveness of the New York Immigration Coalition’s (NYIC) “Strengthening the Capacity of Immigrant Organizations to Link Uninsured Immigrants to Health Care and Insurance” project. Working within the framework of a Health Collaborative that includes nine community-based organizations, two pro bono legal service partners, and NYIC, the project provides education and training to health advocates who, in turn, assist immigrant New Yorkers with accessing health care and insurance coverage. The evaluation provided specific knowledge regarding program impact and more general knowledge regarding the effectiveness of a particular model of training and outreach on health care access.

Read about the New York Immigration Coalition’s “Strengthening the Capacity of Immigrant Organizations to Link Uninsured Immigrants to Health Care and Insurance” project.

Outcomes and Lessons Learned

  • Conducted qualitative interviews with health advocates and directors from the participating CBOs, the legal service partners, and with representatives from three external CBOs that were comparable in size, mission, and expertise to the Health Collaborative CBOs.
  • Conducted interviews with community members who sought and received services from four of the Health Collaborative CBOs.
  • Observed all meetings and trainings organized by NYIC throughout the grant period, taking notes and collecting educational and advocacy materials that were distributed.
  • Observed advocacy events with City and State officials organized by NYIC, at which representatives from all participating CBOs attended.
  • Gathered and reviewed the body of project documents provided by NYIC, including educational and advocacy materials provided to members of the Health Collaborative, and quarterly and yearly reports describing project implementation.

Read the report associated with this grant, “Strengthening the Capacity of Immigrant Community-Based Organizations: Findings from an Evaluation of the New York Immigration Coalition Health Collaborative.”