As part of the Israel Health Advancement for Women (ISHA) Project sponsored by the Jewish Federation of Cleveland and the Jewish Agency, a “Lay Leadership Development in Women’s Health Program” has been developed and implemented at 17 sites throughout the country. The concepts underlying this program are based on the lay health activist approach, which is derived from the empowerment model for health promotion. This model builds on lay activists to mobilize action on health related issues. The JDC-Brookdale Institute is implementing an in-depth evaluation of this effort.
This review summarizes the international literature on lay health leadership development, including studies on empowerment, lay health activist interventions, and community development in health. Special attention is given to studies, which report on efforts to evaluate these interventions.
The literature reveals that during the past decade, lay health activist interventions have garnered increasing recognition as an effective strategy of promoting public health and preventing disease.
Most of these programs have been only minimally evaluated. Several evaluation studies have identified various impacts of such programs. The strategy has been shown to influence health-related attitudes, beliefs, social norms and, eventually, behaviors. These studies have also tried to identify the factors that influence the effectiveness of lay health activist interventions. The following were among these factors:
- Allocation of adequate resources (budget, staff, facilities etc.) for program implementation.
- The identification and recruitment of volunteers who have a natural tendency to help others, and who will remain interested and committed over time.
- Supervision and support of lay health activists’ activities.
- The evaluation of lay health activists’ efforts and outcomes and providing them with feedback.
- Fostering enduring nationwide partnerships among health care providers, service agencies, health facilities and communities
The review has been used in planning and implementing the program and in designing the evaluation of the program in Israel. It will be useful to researchers and field workers involved in developing health activist programs in women’ s health and in other areas of health.
The evaluation is supported by the Jewish Agency and the Jewish Community Federation of Cleveland.