What is an AHEC? | Whatcom Community College

What is an AHEC?

The Area Health Education Centers (AHEC) Program is a federally funded program administered by the Health Resources and Services Administration established in the United States in 1971 to improve the supply, distribution, retention and quality of primary care and other health practitioners in medically underserved areas. The program is part of a national effort to improve access to health services through changes in the education and training of health professionals.

Area Health Education Centers strategically located at health professions education and training organizations within designated regions where health care and health care education needs are not adequately met. AHEC Program Offices oversee the federal grant and are located at universities with school of medicine, osteopathic medicine, or nursing. The centers are responsible for providing matching funds to the federal grant and building regional networks to build programming and resources responsive to regional needs.

Core required programs:

AHEC Scholars
Community-based Experiential Training
Pathway Programs ("Pipeline") high school students (grades 9-12
Continuing Education

The Area Health Education Center for Western Washington is focused on building training and education networks to improve equity in access to health education, quality healthcare and diversity in the health workforce, and to create a healthcare workforce responsive to practice transformation in rural and underserved communities.

The Health Resources and Services Administration center requirements:

A. The center fosters networking and collaboration among communities and between academic health centers and community-based centers;

B. The center serves communities with a demonstrated need of health professionals in partnership with academic medical centers;

C. The center addresses the health care workforce needs of the communities served in coordination with the public workforce investment system;

D. The center will focus on innovative, evidence-based provider resiliency efforts to better address the needs of individuals with mental health and substance use disorders and prevent and mitigate burnout among health profession students, trainees, residents, and providers, and

E. The center supports the capacity to train and develop CHWs and other paraprofessionals to serve as a bridge to the community to address the social determinants of health.

Mission

Vision

Values

Health, wellness, and education as the foundation for the vitality and sustainability of communities
Balanced mental and physical health, as well as social determinants of health, are important factors in promoting health and wellness
Creative and innovative community-centered programs and services
Stewardship of equity and the right of all people to access quality healthcare and education
Working with intention to make the greatest impact with the resources available
Accountability to the rural and urban-underserved communities to listen and serve their needs
Strength in diversity – healthcare and educational programs that are inclusive and empowering
Strength in partnerships to work towards common goals and use resources efficiently and effectively

Goals & Objectives

Goals:

The AHEC Program three (3) overarching goals:

Diversity: Preparing a diverse, culturally competent primary care workforce that can address the needs of the communities we serve;
Distribution: Improving workforce distribution throughout the nation, particularly among rural and underserved areas and populations; and
Practice Transformation: Developing and maintaining a health care workforce that is prepared to deliver high quality care in a transforming health care delivery system with an emphasis on rural and underserved areas and communities.

Objectives:

Improving Healthcare Education

Providing education and training to healthcare professionals focusing on whole person care (including physical, behavioral, environmental, and social determinants of health)
Identifying emerging trends in health care strategies and address training needs for healthcare providers
Leveraging resources and funds for training and workforce development
Collaborating with communities, healthcare professionals, educators, students, agencies, and organizations to improve the health and education of rural and urban-underserved populations

Improving Healthcare Workforce Distribution

Diversifying the healthcare workforce
Promoting innovation that supports the work of healthcare professions and reduces disparities in workforce distribution
Recruiting health care professionals for underserved populations and areas
Promoting health care professional retention activities

Improving Healthcare Access

Promoting the physical and mental wellbeing of individuals and communities
Coordination of physical and behavioral health with social services to improve health outcomes
Responding to regional needs to improve access to health care
Promoting state and federal policies that support for community needs

HRSA Core Topics

AHECWW aligns its work with the HRSA AHEC Scholars 8 Core Topics:

Interprofessional Education (also known as interdisciplinary training) which supports a coordinated, patient-centered model of health care that involves an understanding of the contributions of multiple health care professionals.
Behavioral Health Integration which promotes the development of integrated primary and behavioral health services to better address the needs of individuals with mental health and substances use conditions.
Social Determinants of Health includes five key areas (determinants) of economic stability, education, social and community context, health and health care, and neighborhood and built environment, and their impact on health.
Cultural Competency* which seeks to improve individual health and build health communities by training health care providers to recognize and address the unique culture, language and health literacy of diverse consumers and communities.
Practice Transformation which aims to fully support quality improvement and patient-centered care through goal-setting, leadership, practice facilitation, workflow changes, measuring outcomes, and adapting organizational tools and processes to support new team-based models of care delivery. AHEC programs are expected to develop and implement educational and training activities and build and strengthen strategic partnerships. Educational and training activities under practice transformation must target the specific skills and competencies needed to prepare students and practicing health professionals to effectively practice in a transforming health care system.
Virtual Learning & Telehealth topics seek to improve virtual learning and telehealth curricula and community-based experiential training.
Connecting Communities and Supporting Health Professionals which aims of this topic area is to increase training and development of CHWs and paraprofessionals to be the connectors who are able to serve as a liaison/link/intermediary between health professionals and the community to facilitate access to service and improve health equity, community/population health, and social determinants of health.
Current and Emerging Health Issues such as COVID-19, opioid abuse, etc.

*AHECWW prefers the term cultural humility, which acknowledges that mastery of a finite body of knowledge may not be appropriate. Instead, cultural humility invites us to practice the lifelong commitment to self-evaluation, redressing power imbalances, and developing mutually beneficial advocacy partnerships with communities. (Definition adapted from Tervalon & Murray-Garcia, 1998)

Strategic Partnerships

Strategic Partnerships:

AHEC program offices and centers (see the new WA State Centers here)
Minority Serving Institutions
State-level entities
Health Care Safety Net Sites
Pathway Programs

Minority Serving Institutions such as Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs), and Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs) in the state and region to facilitate relationships with health professions schools and programs;
State-level entities such as State Workforce Agencies and State and Local entities, Primary Care Associations (PCAs) and Primary Care Organizations (PCOs), State Offices of Rural Health (SORH), State Primary Care Office, State Minority Health Contacts, and State Education Agencies (SEAs);
Health Care Safety Net Sites (e.g., Federally-Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) and Look-Alikes, including school-based health centers, migrant health centers, health care for the homeless centers, and public housing primary care centers), Native Hawaiian Health Centers, outpatient health clinics associated with tribal or Urban Indian Health Organizations, Rural Health Clinics, Critical Access Hospitals, and Disproportionate Share Hospitals (DSHs); and
Pathway Programs such as recruitment programs through health professions schools and other educational institutions, particularly those focused on recruiting underrepresented minority populations or individuals who come from disadvantaged or rural backgrounds. AHECWW works with programs from career awareness to residency and fellowship-- the full pathway to leadership.

History

Our History

The AHEC (Area Health Education Centers) program was developed by Congress in 1971 to recruit, train and retain a health professions workforce committed to underserved populations. The AHEC program helps bring the resources of academic medicine to address local community health needs. The strength of the AHEC Network is its ability to creatively adapt national initiatives to help address local and regional healthcare issues. AHEC programs meet the needs of the communities they serve through robust community-academic partnerships, with a focus on exposure, education, and training of the current and future health care workforce, such as the development of an AHEC Scholars program.

AHECs have a continual focus on improving the health care system by working with academic institutions, health care settings (including CHCs), behavioral health practices, and community-based organizations. Through these longstanding partnerships, the AHECs employ traditional and innovative approaches to develop and train a diverse health care workforce prepared to deliver culturally appropriate, high-quality, team-based care, with an emphasis on primary care for rural and underserved communities.