Community Health team members go out in the field to provide care.
Words by Donald Padgett • Photos by Demarcus O’Dell and Daniel Vaillancourt
The folks in DAP Health’s Community Health Department understand that extra efforts are required to ensure vital services are delivered to patients in underserved communities.
“Outreach is the foundation of how we serve our communities — by meeting people where they are physically, socially, and emotionally,” says Director of Community Health and Wellness Patricio Battani. “It serves as a trusted bridge between vulnerable community members and the health care system.”
Battani says the program addresses “gaps in care,” providing a “critical entry point into the health care system” for underserved individuals.
Senior Manager of Community Health Manny Muro explains how those gaps are filled. “What makes community outreach unique is that these services are delivered outside the traditional walls of a clinic,” he says. “We are present at community events, schools, health fairs, senior centers, LGBTQ+ spaces, recovery-oriented settings, rural communities, and other locations where people may already feel more comfortable.”
But tailoring support and services to many diverse populations in need is not as simple as it sounds. “There is no single typical person served by DAP Health community outreach,” says Muro. “The people we serve reflect the diversity and complexity of Southern California itself. We reach individuals and families across different ages, backgrounds, identities, income levels, languages, and life experiences.”
Removing barriers to care
Muro and Battani both believe a shared experience of having encountered barriers connects these otherwise disparate communities.
“Those barriers may include transportation, cost, stigma, fear, language access, unstable housing, limited access to clinicians, past negative experiences with health care, or simply not knowing where to begin,” says Muro. “Community outreach helps bridge those gaps by bringing services into trusted spaces.”
“One of the most important contributions of community outreach is reducing barriers to health care access,” Battani adds. “Many individuals, particularly those experiencing poverty, homelessness, stigma, or lack of insurance, face challenges navigating traditional health care systems. Through field-based outreach and mobile services, we can take a proactive approach to assist folks in need and reduce the burden on emergency medical services, such as hospital emergency departments, which also reduces the cost burdens for insurance companies.”
All in a day’s work, mobile units provide basic health screenings, immunizations, prevention services, and low-barrier access to care. Field-based efforts bring free, confidential HIV/HCV/STI testing, and education on prevention strategies like PrEP and safer sex practices to hard-to-reach communities — where services are limited — while identifying at-risk individuals and directing them to the care and treatment they need.
“Each clinic is unique, as some offer women’s health, pediatrics, or sexual health and wellness,” Battani says of DAP Health’s 23 fixed locations in its Federally Qualified Health Center network. “Most importantly, each provides access to primary care.”
Let’s not forget harm reduction
Harm reduction is also a key component of the community outreach model. “Harm reduction means helping people who use substances stay alive, stay safer, and stay connected,” Muro says simply. “That can include Narcan distribution, overdose prevention education, safer-use supplies, free HIV and hepatitis C testing, linkage to treatment, and conversations about health that are grounded in trust.”
Muro is quick to note that effective harm reduction begins by treating the patient with dignity and respect. “People deserve care, safety, and support regardless of where they are in their journey,” he says, adding that their efforts eschew “shame, judgment, or the idea that someone must be ‘ready’ for a certain kind of change before they are worthy of help.”
Battani also notes the importance of general wellness. “Our outreach includes a strong focus on mental and emotional well-being, addressing issues such as isolation, substance use, and stress,” he says, noting how psychosocial support groups “foster community connections” and that “the integration of wellness services demonstrates a holistic, patient-centered approach that aligns with FQHC principles of whole-person care.”
This holistic approach operates on the core principle that health care is for everyone, including those outside traditional delivery models.
“DAP Health community outreach represents a belief that health care should not be limited to those who already know how to access it,” Muro explains. “It should reach people where they are, in the language they understand, in spaces they trust, and with the dignity every person deserves.”
With folks like Muro and Battani, it’s no wonder DAP Health community outreach is having such a big impact everywhere team members show up to do the lifesaving work.
CAPTIONS
Featured Image: DAP Health Senior Director of Community Health Manny Muro with one of the mobile units in Palm Springs.
#1 Community Health Specialists Rodney Vanderhorst and Norma Aleman Carrasco with Muro at a National HIV Testing Day event at Hunters Nightclub in Palm Springs last June.
