Local Community Health Center Research Articles

A lifestyle program for socially vulnerable community-dwelling elderly

Abstract Problem Socially vulnerable older adults often face lower health literacy and limited access to health care. Description of the problem Current lifestyle programs are often insufficiently adapted to this socially vulnerable target group. As a result, these older adults are underrepresented in lifestyle programs. From a public health perspective, lifestyle programs that improve the poorer physical and mental health of these older adults, should be made more accessible by involving the expertise, participation and needs of this group. The aim of this study was to develop and implement a lifestyle program adapted to the expectations and needs of socially vulnerable older adults. Results Both the target group and the local community (health) centers were involved during the co-creative phase of development. A neighborhood analysis was used to identify and reach out to the target group. Motivators and barriers for a healthy lifestyle were identified through focus groups. The developed program consisted of 10 weekly group sessions. Various health aspects were integrated, including exercise, nutrition, stress, sleep, positive psychology, meaningful living, and motivation. Nine centers for community dwelling older adults in Flanders and Brussels were included. In total, 93 older adults were recruited out of which 76 completed the full program. In the final phase, the program was evaluated by means of objective and subjective measuring methods. Finally, the local community (health) centers are currently involved in the program’s sustainability through a trainers’ program. Lessons The belongingness, the catering, the empowering attitude of the trainer and the ‘fun’ factor turned out to be success factors for the adherence to the program. The participating centres experienced an increase in numbers of older adults that were attracted to their activities that are focused on healthy lifestyle behaviors. The continuity of the program is currently being examined. Key messages • A neighbourhood analysis in collaboration with local partners helped to reach the target group. • The program was made attractive by the involvement of the older adults, the fun-factor and the small groups.

Research with Black Communities to Inform Co-Development of a Framework for Anti-Racist Health and Community Programming.

The effects of systemic racism were exacerbated and amplified throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. The resurgence of the "Black Lives Matter" movement in North America brought awareness to the public, especially white people, of the impacts of systemic racism in society and the urgent need for large-scale and institutional anti-racism work. In collaboration with a local Community Health Centre, this research focused on identifying priority areas for tailored and co-developed anti-Black racism interventions in health services and community programming, as well as examining how purposeful relationships can be created with African, Caribbean, and Black (ACB) communities in London, Ontario. Semi-structured interviews were conducted in either French or English with nine formal or informal leaders from London's ACB communities. Interpretive description methodology guided analysis and interpretation. Participants indicated that anti-Black racism is ever-present in the community and in their lives, with systemic racism causing the most harm. Racism should be addressed by creating ACB-specific services, and education for non-Black communities; increased representation, inclusion, and engagement of ACB people within organizations, especially in leadership roles, are essential. A framework based on study findings to guide how organizations can develop authentic and purposeful relationships with ACB communities is presented. Organizations will continue to perpetuate systemic racism unless they actively seek to be anti-racist and implement strategies and policies to this end. The proposed framework can guide partnerships between health and community organizations and ACB communities, and support co-development of strategies to address anti-Black racism.

Monitoring Child Growth and Development and Providing Healthy Food for Toddlers

Posyandu units are generally organized at the Rukun Warga or Hamlet level, according to the conditions of each area. Posyandu activities are carried out once a month in collaboration with the local Community Health Center to monitor the growth and development of toddlers and provide nutritious food for toddlers. Community service at Posyandu Margo Kencono VII, Kersan Hamlet, Sidorejo Village, is focused on socializing the use of Posyandu to monitor children's growth and development, prevent malnutrition and obstacles to children's growth and development. This community service also provides information about healthy, nutritionally balanced food for toddlers. , providing healthy food by mothers easily and cheaply using various ingredients that are available and easily obtained in the local community. Implementation of community service is carried out in a humane manner, by sitting together and discussing with mothers while waiting for their turn to weigh toddlers, record weight, height, arm circumference and head circumference, with material delivered on the use of Posyandu to monitor children's growth and development and provide food which is nutritious and mothers of toddlers are very enthusiastic about the posyandu activities.

Shanghai Community-Based Schizophrenia Cohort (SCS): a protocol for establishing a longitudinal cohort and research database of patients with schizophrenia receiving community-based mental health treatment

IntroductionDrivers for remission, relapse and violence-related behaviour among patients with schizophrenia are the most complicated issue.Methods and analysisThis study aims to recruit a longitudinal cohort of patients with schizophrenia. Two...

Difference In Mothers' Knowledge of Balanced Nutrition For Preschool Children Before And After Receiving Nutrition Education Using Powerpoint Slides At biMBA AIUEO Unit Vila Bintaro Indah

Indonesia has a "Double Burden of Malnutrition". Based on Basic Health Research (Riskesdas) data for 2018, the prevalence of undernutrition is estimated at 13.8%, while the prevalence of overweight is reported to be at 8%. Balanced nutrition is crucial for normal growth, physical development, and cognitive abilities. The key to the success or failure of nutritional status in toddlers lies in the mother's knowledge regarding nutrition. Nutrition education is an effort to overcome nutritional problems by increasing mothers' knowledge. The purpose of this study is to examine the difference in mothers' knowledge of balanced nutrition for preschool children before and after receiving nutrition education using PowerPoint slides at biMBA AIUEO Unit Vila Bintaro Indah. The research method employed in this study was a pre-experimental design using a one-group pre-test-post-test approach.. The total population in this study is 80 individuals and a total of 31 mothers were included as participants taken utilized purposive sampling. Data was collected through a questionnaire (Google Form). Statistical analysis were conducted using the Paired Sample t-test. The results showed that there is a significant difference in the mother's knowledge regarding balanced nutrition for preschool children with p = 0.000 (p <0.05). The suggestion given is that the school encouraged to collaborate with the local Community Health Center (Puskesmas) to provide continuous nutrition education for preschool children.

Disparities in Mammography Screening: Analyzing Barriers to Access Using Individual Patient Perspectives and the Health Belief Model.

The objective of our study is to explore Nepali women's beliefs about access to mammography screening, and motivations to get screened or not. This work was intended to be hypothesis generating for subsequent quantitative analysis and to inform policy and decision-making to improve access. We conducted structured qualitative interviews among nine Nepali women in the Northeast of the United States receiving care at a local community health center and among nine white women receiving mammography care at a large academic medical center in the Northeast. We analyzed the transcripts using a mixed deductive (content analysis) and inductive (grounded theory) approach. Deductive codes were generated from the Health Belief Model which states that a person's belief in the real threat of a disease with their belief in the effectiveness of the recommended health service or behavior or action will predict the likelihood the person will adopt the behavior. We compared and contrasted qualitative results from both groups. We found that eligible Nepali women who had not received mammography screening had no knowledge of its availability and its importance. Primary care physicians emerged as a critical link in addressing this disparity: trust was found to be high among Nepali women with their established primary care provider. The findings of this study suggest that the role of primary care practitioners in conversations around the importance and eligibility for mammography screening is of critical importance, especially for underserved groups with limited health knowledge of screening opportunities and potential health benefits. Follow-up research should focus on primary care practices.

Combination of Digital and Conventional Intervention for Sexually Transmitted Infections Prevention among Female Sex Workers.

Female sex workers (FSWs) are at a high risk of contracting sexually transmitted infection (STI). Mobile health (m-health) is one intervention that is easily accessible to everyone online and offline, allowing two-way communication through the program. This study aimed to determine the effectiveness of m-health on STI prevention behavior among FSW. The study was conducted using quasi-experimental design. It included the treatment group and the control group, each of which included fifty-four (54) FSWs selected by purposive sampling. The m-health intervention was conducted in the form of a short comedy movie on YouTube, combined with offline assertive communication training to improve skills in negotiating the use of condoms to the intervention group. Meanwhile, the control group received regular counseling from the local community health center. The Mann-Whitney test was used to compare the knowledge, attitudes, motivation, and behavior among the two study groups. Intervention for six months in the treatment group increased FSWs knowledge score by 4.0 (p=0.00), attitude by 3.9 (p=0.00), and motivation by 12 (p=0.00). The median knowledge, attitude, and motivation scores were 17.38 and 46, respectively. The model is effective onSTI-prevention behavior through motivational mediator variables with a p-value of 0.00. The condom consistency has the highest outer loading value in the STI-prevention behavior construct of 0.71 ≥ 0.4. A combination of digital and conventional health promotion can improve STI prevention behavior by raising knowledge, attitudes, motivation, and condom consistency behavior.

Identifying barriers and facilitators along the hepatitis C care cascade to inform human-centered design of contextualized treatment protocols for vulnerable populations in Austin, Texas: a qualitative study

BackgroundHepatitis C virus (HCV) is a leading cause of liver-related mortality and morbidity. Despite effective direct acting antivirals and a simplified treatment algorithm, limited access to HCV treatment in vulnerable populations, including people experiencing homelessness (PEH) and people who inject drugs (PWID), hinders global elimination. Adapting the evidence-based, simplified HCV treatment algorithm to the organizational and contextual realities of non-traditional clinic settings serving vulnerable populations can help overcome specific barriers to HCV care. The first phase of the Erase Hep C study aimed to identify barriers and facilitators specific to these vulnerable populations to design the site-specific, simplified treatment protocols.MethodsForty-two semi-structured qualitative interviews, guided by the Practical, Robust Implementation and Sustainability Model (PRISM) framework, were conducted with clinic staff, community-based organizations providing screening and linkage to care, and patients diagnosed with HCV, to identify contextual barriers and facilitators to treatment at a local community health center’s Health Care for the Homeless program in Austin, Texas. Audio-recorded interviews were systematically analyzed using thematic analysis informed by the PRISM framework and design thinking, to anchor barriers and facilitators along the HCV care cascade. Findings were fed into human-centered design workshops to co-design, with clinic staff, site-specific, simplified HCV treatment protocols.ResultsThe specific needs of PEH and PWID patient populations informed barriers and facilitators of HCV care. Barriers included tracking patients who miss critical appointments or labs, medication access and adherence, and patient HCV knowledge. Clinical teams leveraged existing facilitators and incorporated solutions to barriers into clinic workflows to improve care coordination and medication access. Actionable solutions included augmenting existing staff roles, employing HCV care navigation throughout the cascade, and standardizing medication adherence counseling.ConclusionsClinic staff identified HCV care facilitators to leverage, and designed actionable solutions to address barriers, to incorporate into site-specific treatment protocols to improve patient HCV outcomes. Methods used to incorporate staff and patient experiential knowledge into the design of contextualized treatment protocols in non-traditional clinic settings could serve as a model for future implementation research. The next phase of the study is protocol implementation and patient enrollment into a single-arm trial to achieve HCV cure.

Effects of misoprostol as a drug to induce abortion in the second trimester: a forensic case report

Link of Video Abstract: https://youtu.be/rMasD6pMero Introduction: Induced abortion with misoprostol in the second trimester can be harmful to both mother and fetus, especially when the abortion is self-administered with telemedicine. Considering the effects that might occur in misoprostol usage to induce abortion, we ought to present our experience through this article regarding the effect of misoprostol as a drug to induce abortion in the second trimester. Case Description: In the first case, a 30-year-old woman engaged in a self-induced abortion at her residence subsequent to consulting with medical personnel at a local community health centre, where she received oral and vaginal administration of misoprostol. Unfortunately, complications arose as the mother experienced post-abortion bleeding, which necessitated a curative procedure. Tragically, the fetus perished in utero due to asphyxia. In the second case, a 20-year-old woman opted to undergo a self-induced abortion at home following consultation and the acquisition of misoprostol from an online source. In cases where fetuses experience asphyxia within the womb, they are unable to exit the uterus spontaneously. Consequently, the mother experienced post-abortion bleeding as an aftermath of the procedure. Conclusions: Misoprostol-induced abortion in the second trimester causes maternal bleeding and intrauterine fetal mortality. Medical staff should handle abortions professionally, considering into account both the patient's health and the legal considerations.

Knowledge Regarding Management of Hypertension Among Teachers at State Senior High School in Paccerakang Village

The high rate of hypertension causes the high mortality rate. Hypertension can cause various complications, especially if the high incidence of hypertension is associated with a lack of knowledge about proper management of hypertension. This study aims to describe knowledge about management of hypertension. This was a quantitative descriptive study. The population in this study was all teachers at State Senior High School in Paccerakang Village who had hypertension with a total population of 50 people. 50 samples were selected using total sampling technique. Data were collected using a questionnaire and were analyzed using univariate analysis. The study findings were categorized into good, moderate and poor. The results of the study revealed that 52.5% of respondents had a poor level of knowledge regarding management of hypertension. Poor level of knowledge can be seen from the answers of respondents who stated the inappropriate management of hypertension. Based on the results of the study, it was found that more than half of respondents had a poor level of knowledge. Thus, there should be further efforts which involved coordination with the local Community Health Center to provide health education about hypertension management for State SHS Teachers in Paccerakang Village.

Seismic damage and comparison of fragility functions of public and residential buildings damaged by the 2014 Mae Lao (Northern Thailand) earthquake

On 5 May 2014, a 6.1-Mw earthquake struck the Mae Lao region in Thailand and resulted in the evacuation of all public structures in the epicentral area due to varying degrees of structural and nonstructural damage. This study reports the damage sustained by public buildings in the epicentral area based on postseismic surveys and data gathered from the local official database. Using these damage observations, fragility functions are then derived for public buildings, that is, temples and community health centers, and compared with fragility functions developed for residential buildings damaged in the same area. This earthquake provided several important lessons related to nonstructural damage to local community health centers and temples within the epicentral region. The failure of nonstructural components could lead to serious injuries and casualties. This study has also shown that poor seismic performance of local temples could be expected with moderate ground shaking. Findings in this study could be useful for developing appropriate strategies to ensure safety of local communities for moderate earthquakes for similar structures within the Indochina region in the future.

A case study: Promoting interprofessional community-based learning opportunities for health sciences students at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa


 
 
 
 Background. Preventing disease and promoting health call for interprofessional collaboration of health professionals working in a team, making it important for student health professionals to experience collaborative teamwork while in training, rather than learning and working in silos. Objectives. To describe the opinions of participating students and supervising staff in an intraprofessional community-based initiative involving the disciplines of physiotherapy and dentistry at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN), Durban, South Africa.
 Methods. This was a qualitative descriptive study demonstrating teamwork of students from two health sciences disciplines, giving a joint health education talk to patients at a local community health centre. Data were collected from focus group discussions. Three such discussions were held with purposively selected samples: (i) 5 physiotherapy students; (ii) 6 dental therapy students; and (iii) 6 staff members from both disciplines who supervised the students. These data were analysed using thematic analysis. Ethical approval was obtained from UKZN.
 Results. By working collaboratively, the students believed that they learnt more about the other health professionals and obtained a deeper understanding of their roles within the healthcare team. Staff believed that the collaborative project could break down professional barriers to work cohesively in the work environment. The main difficulties encountered were the language barrier and rigid timetables.
 Conclusion. This case study provides an example of intraprofessional collaboration and teamwork, capable of positively influencing participating students, emphasising the need for interprofessional learning opportunities for students across all health sciences disciplines while in training.
 
 
 

The Experience of Service Users with Session-Limited Psychosocial Interventions

This brief report focuses on the experience of service users in the context of a new public institutional framework limiting the number of psychosocial intervention sessions offered per person. Qualitative data of nine group discussions composed of 12 past service users and 12 professionals working in local community health centres were analyzed with content analysis. The study revealed that service users expressed mostly negative emotions and views attributed to session limits. This brief report suggests that rigid session-limited psychosocial interventions are perceived negatively and could have adverse consequences on recovery in vulnerable individuals.

Lung function reduction among welders

Welding is associated with regular exposure to dust and fumes. Many studies have proven that there is a decrease in lung function due to exposure to this agent. This study aimed to quantitatively analyze the risk factors of impaired lung function among welders in Binong, Tangerang, Indonesia. This was a cross-sectional study design. The lung function of 30 welders is measured by spirometry using the parameters of vital capacity (VC), forced vital capacity (FCV), forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1), and the ratio of FEV1/FVC. Chi-square analysis was performed and showed that 20 respondents (67%) had impaired lung function, while 10 respondents (33%) had normal lung function. Another factor contributing to impaired lung function among welding workers was their nutritional status, whereby respondents with abnormal nutritional status (body mass index (BMI) 18.4 or ≥25.1) were at 2.15 times higher risk of suffering from impaired lung function compared to respondents with normal nutritional status. Additionally, respondents who did not exercise regularly were at 1.22 times higher risk of impaired lung function compared to those who exercised regularly. Therefore, it is necessary to collaborate with the local community health center to monitor the health of the welders. It is recommended to carry out regular health checks, specifically pulmonary examination, at least once at a year to keep track of the health development of the workers. It is important to equip the workspace with a good ventilation system, and to have the welder work with appropriate personal protective equipment.

262-OR: Recruiting Historically Underrepresented Individuals into Clinical Trials: Key Lessons from Project ECHO Diabetes

Background: Individuals underrecruited in diabetes studies include those not seen by an endocrinologist and those from rural, low socioeconomic, and racial/ethnic minority groups. Project ECHO Diabetes aimed to recruit historically excluded participants with insulin-requiring diabetes. Objective: The purpose of this descriptive analysis is to outline and evaluate our recruitment efforts at 9 sites affiliated with the University of Florida. Results: In total, 340 participants with type 1 diabetes and 1225 participants with type 2 diabetes were eligible and approached for recruitment. Local community health centers were funded to recruit for and participate in Project ECHO. Participants were contacted on average 2 times (range 1-13 times) to finalize a consent disposition: Yes, No, or No Response (Table 1) . For those individuals who we categorized as “No Response,” the most common reason was lack of reliable contact information. Conclusions: Recruiting historically underrepresented populations is feasible with repeated touch points. Funding the partnerships with community health centers, who have the trust of the local community and are equipped to address local needs, was key in our recruitment strategy. Language, a common exclusion criteria and barrier to diverse recruitment, was overcome through multi-lingual study staff. Disclosure A.Addala: None. X.Roque: None. L.Figg: None. C.Anez-zabala: None. C.Clark: None. R.Lal: Advisory Panel; Provention Bio, Inc., Consultant; Abbott Diabetes, Biolinq, Capillary Biomedical, Inc., Deep Valley Labs, Gluroo, Morgan Stanley, Tidepool. M.J.Haller: Advisory Panel; SAB Biotherapeutics , Consultant; MannKind Corporation, Sanofi. D.M.Maahs: Advisory Panel; Abbott Diabetes, Eli Lilly and Company, Medtronic, Novo Nordisk, Sanofi, Consultant; Aditx Therapeutics, Inc., Biospex. A.F.Walker: None. Funding The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust

The CORRELATION BETWEEN PARENTING STYLES AND SMARTPHONE ADDICTION AMONG PRIMARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN INDONESIA

Introduction: Long term usage of smart phones will influence the physical and psychological conditions of children. Parents need to supervise the use of smart phones to overcome the impact of playing smart phones. The purpose of this study was to determine correlation of parenting styles with children's smart phone addiction rates in Indonesia. Materials and Methods: The design of the study used correlative analytics with a cross-sectional approach. The population was elementary school students at grades four, five, and six on Islamic elementary school in Indonesia. The Proportionate stratified random sampling technique was applied to get the sample and got 70 students as the respondents. The data were collected by using the Parenteral Authority Questionnaire (PAQ) and Smartphone Addiction Questionnaire. Data analysis using the Chi-Square test. Results: Most students had parents with a democratic parenting style (48.6%), and most students experienced moderate addiction (54.3%). The chi-Square test shows a relationship between parenting with smart phone addiction and the results of ρ = 0.042. Conclusion: This study indicated that proper parenting style could reduce the incidence of smart phone addiction, so parents need to applied effective parenting. For the school to always provide direction and guidance in the form of socialization to students about the effects of excessive smart phone use. The nursing profession, especially the local community health centers, is expected to be able to collaborate with schools to minimize the incidence of smartphone addiction by providing socialization about the impact of smartphone use.

Evaluation of an online text simplification editor using manual and automated metrics for perceived and actual text difficulty.

ObjectiveSimplifying healthcare text to improve understanding is difficult but critical to improve health literacy. Unfortunately, few tools exist that have been shown objectively to improve text and understanding. We developed an online editor that integrates simplification algorithms that suggest concrete simplifications, all of which have been shown individually to affect text difficulty.Materials and MethodsThe editor was used by a health educator at a local community health center to simplify 4 texts. A controlled experiment was conducted with community center members to measure perceived and actual difficulty of the original and simplified texts. Perceived difficulty was measured using a Likert scale; actual difficulty with multiple-choice questions and with free recall of information evaluated by the educator and 2 sets of automated metrics.ResultsThe results show that perceived difficulty improved with simplification. Several multiple-choice questions, measuring actual difficulty, were answered more correctly with the simplified text. Free recall of information showed no improvement based on the educator evaluation but was better for simplified texts when measured with automated metrics. Two follow-up analyses showed that self-reported education level and the amount of English spoken at home positively correlated with question accuracy for original texts and the effect disappears with simplified text.DiscussionSimplifying text is difficult and the results are subtle. However, using a variety of different metrics helps quantify the effects of changes.ConclusionText simplification can be supported by algorithmic tools. Without requiring tool training or linguistic knowledge, our simplification editor helped simplify healthcare related texts.

Postpartum Care Behavior Improvement during COVID-19 Pandemic in Indonesia Using Mobile-Health Interactive Message

Since 2018, maternal mortality in Semarang City, Indonesia, has mostly (75%) occurred during the postpartum period. Therefore, a health intervention is necessary to improve safe and effective postpartum care. During the Covid-19 pandemic, a mobile-based health intervention is preferred due to the government's regulation of COVID-19 safety prevention. This study aimed to determine the effectiveness of the mobile-health interactive message on the postpartum care behavior of mothers and their husbands. The study was conducted in a quasi-experimental design. It includes the treatment group and the control group, in which each group consists of 46 pairs of pregnant women in the third trimester and their husbands. The research subjects were chosen through the purposive sampling technique. Data collection was conducted via interviews and observations. The m-health intervention is carried out in the form of text messages, images, videos, and interactive mentoring. The latter was carried out through group messaging via the WhatsApp application for the treatment group. Meanwhile, the control group received regular counseling from the local Community Health Center. Data analysis was performed by Mann-Whitney test, unpaired T-Test, Chi-Square Test dan Fisher Exact Test. Intervention for 2.5 months increased the knowledge of mothers and husbands. The intervention for 3.5 months improved the mother's attitude, but not the husband's attitude. The intervention also improves maternal practices related to postpartum visits, such as Early Initiation of Breastfeeding assistance requests from health workers, iron tablets and nutritious food consumption, personal hygiene, postpartum danger signs monitoring, and the husband's practice of accompanying mothers during postpartum visits. Mobile-Health interactive messages effectively improved postpartum care behavior for mothers and their husbands.

Retaining interest in caring for underserved patients among future medicine subspecialists: Underserved Medicine and Public Health (UMPH) program

BackgroundAccessing subspecialty care is hard for underserved patients in the U.S. Published curricula in underserved medicine for Internal Medicine residents target future-primary care physicians, with unknown impact on future medicine subspecialists.MethodsThe aim was to retain interest in caring for underserved patients among Internal Medicine residents who plan for subspecialist careers at an urban university hospital. The two-year Underserved Medicine and Public Health (UMPH) program features community-based clinics, evening seminars, reflection assignments and practicum projects for 3–7 Internal Medicine residents per year. All may apply regardless of anticipated career plans after residency. Seven years of graduates were surveyed. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics.ResultsAccording to respondents, UMPH provided a meaningful forum to discuss important issues in underserved medicine, fostered interest in treating underserved populations and provided a sense of belonging to a community of providers committed to underserved medicine. After residency, 48% of UMPH graduates pursued subspecialty training and 34% practiced hospitalist medicine. 65% of respondents disagreed that “UMPH made me more likely to practice primary care” and 59% agreed “UMPH should target residents pursuing subpecialty careers.”ConclusionsA curriculum in underserved medicine can retain interest in caring for underserved patients among future-medicine subspecialists. Lessons learned include [1] building relationships with local community health centers and community-practicing physicians was important for success and [2] thoughtful scheduling promoted high resident attendance at program events and avoided detracting from other activities required during residency for subspecialist career paths. We hope Internal Medicine residency programs consider training in underserved medicine for all trainees. Future work should investigate sustainability, whether training results in improved subspecialty access, and whether subspecialists face unique barriers caring for underserved patients. Future curricula should include advocacy skills to target systemic barriers.

Highlighting strengths and resources that increase ownership of cervical cancer screening for Indigenous communities in Northern British Columbia: Community-driven approaches.

ObjectiveTo examine the unique and diverse strengths held by rural and remote Indigenous communities in northern British Columbia, including multi‐generational support systems in health and wellness, profound connections to the land, and strong cultural foundations, and harness these strengths, allowing communities to engage in innovative and empowering health and wellness programs.MethodsBuilding on these pre‐existing and fundamental strengths, an alternative option to cervical cancer screening was introduced to nine Carrier Sekani health centers located in northern interior British Columbia in response to disparities in screening rates. Introduced in 2019, CervixCheck uses a self‐collection approach that is private, safe, convenient, and offered at local community health centers by trained and supportive health staff.ResultsUsing a strengths‐based and community directed and descriptive approach, the process was outlined for a successful and ongoing health screening opportunity that is put into the hands of community members within Indigenous communities in the region of northern British Columbia.ConclusionThrough collaborative partnerships, in‐person engagement sessions, and the utilization of pre‐existing infrastructure and health and wellness teams, this project was successfully integrated into primary care centers using culturally safe and community‐based approaches.