Greenville Health System – PASOs (Steps)

Overview

PASOs, which means “steps” in Spanish, is a community-based organization whose central office is hosted by the University of South Carolina’s (USC) Arnold School of Public Health, and whose regional sites are hosted by local health care organizations. Its vision is a healthy South Carolina with healthy Latino communities. Toward this end, the organization helps the Latino community and service providers work together for strong, healthy families though education, support and grassroots leadership development. PASOs began in Greenville in 2009 through a partnership between USC and Greenville Health System (GHS). PASOs partners strategically with various GHS departments, including the OBGYN Center and the Center for Pediatric Medicine, and is under the supervision of GHS’ director of Accountable Communities. Working concertedly with other initiatives under GHS’ Accountable Communities and Medical Neighborhoods model, PASOs focuses on identifying barriers to healthier communities and establishing programs and infrastructure where resources are lacking.

Impact

Since Jan. 1, 2016, 632 participants have had an intervention with PASOs Greenville, from providing referrals to services, such as medical, legal and education, to helping with Medicaid, WIC and SNAP enrollments. More than 100 pregnant women have received PASOs services, giving them the power to make healthy life choices during and after pregnancy. All pregnant participants received information on folic acid, and 65 received a free prenatal medicine bottle with folic acid. The Greenville program coordinator and resource specialist have also held nine OB tours for pregnant participants. PASOs Greenville has made 256 new enrollments to WIC, and 123 participants have been educated on what WIC is and its benefits. PASOs Greenville has facilitated six community health workshops on a wide range of topics. As a result, 42 participants set health behavior change goals and are now equipped with the knowledge and resources to make healthy life choices. Even further, 236 people have been contacted through PASOs outreach events, and 1,114 parents and children have been assisted with Medicaid applications. PASOs works with more than 40 partner organizations in Greenville County to improve the quality and availability of care for Latino families.

Lessons Learned

As OBGYN educational workshops expanded to educational workshops for the whole family, PASOs started community outreach as well, such as in the Berea and Simpsonville/Fountain Inn areas. Despite the closer proximity to the community, gaps remained. As a result, PASOs increased presence at Latino grocers. Latino grocer presence allowed busy families to meet PASOs community health workers before or after they shopped. PASOs also has partnered at locations with GHS’ Mobile Health Clinic, which has been greatly successful for distributing PASOs information to the Latino community.

Future Goals

GHS integrated PASOs into Accountable Communities this operating year, and plans to continue to support and grow the program. In addition to providing support in Greenville County, program leaders would like to expand support to the Latino community in Laurens, Oconee and Pickens Counties.

Contact: Jennifer Snow
Director, Accountable Communities
Telephone: 864-797-7854
Email: jsnow@ghs.org