The Section for Health Equity at NYU Langone has developed a robust set of culturally adapted health education toolkits and curricula for community health workers and related community health advocates and educators to use when interacting with community members.

While these materials were largely developed out of specific research studies and health promotion projects dedicated to Asian American communities and subgroups, they can easily be tailored to meet the unique needs of other community-based or community health worker–led programs. In addition to the selection of resources provided here, you can also access archived and recent NYU Center for the Study of Asian American Health (CSAAH)–developed health education toolkits, curricula, and related materials on CSAAH’s AANHPI Health and Information Hub.

Health Education Toolkits and Curricula

The Diabetes Research, Education, and Action for Minorities (DREAM) Project, which began in CSAAH, generated considerable community health worker resources through its program to improve diabetes control and diabetes-related health complications in the Bangladeshi community in New York City. Tools created include an in-language intervention guide, data collection tools, and recruitment, intervention session, and educational materials, among others.

CSAAH’s Project on Asian American Partnership in Research and Empowerment (Project AsPIRE) was designed to develop, test, and evaluate a community health worker program for reducing cardiovascular disease and hypertension disparities among Filipino Americans living in New York and New Jersey. Community health worker tools generated from this study consist of a culturally tailored training manual and supporting materials.

Muslim Americans Reaching for Health and Building Alliances (MARHABA) was an initiative that investigated the barriers and facilitators to breast and cervical cancer screening among Muslim women in New York City. This research was a collaboration between CSAAH and the NYU-CUNY Prevention Research Center. The study compared the use of large-scale, culturally tailored media delivered by a lay health worker to media coupled with lay health worker‒led patient navigation to promote cancer awareness and screening in diverse New York City Muslim populations. Culturally adapted campaign materials developed comprised in-language (English, Bengali, Arabic, and more) audio recordings and commercial advertisements, as well as health promotion materials such as posters, a health consultant training manual, a flip chart, and print brochures. Flip charts are two-way visual aids designed to help community health workers provide brief educational instruction to community members on a variety of health and wellness topics.

For more information and to obtain our culturally adapted DREAM Project, Project AsPIRE, and MARHABA toolkits, please contact Jennifer Wong, MPH, senior program coordinator, at jennifer.wong@nyulangone.org.

The goal of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)–funded Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health for Asian Americans (REACH FAR) program was to prevent cardiovascular disease by improving high blood pressure management in Asian Americans living in the New York and New Jersey metropolitan area.

The Healthy Eating in Places of Worship and Healthy Eating in Retail Settings REACH FAR toolkits provide guidance and health promotion resources for individuals, community-based organizations, places of worship, academic research centers, and other organizations. The toolkits are especially suited for those working with Asian Americans in community settings who are interested in ways to prevent high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease. Health promotion materials are available in English, Bengali, Hindi, Nepali, Punjabi, Korean, Tagalog, and Urdu.

Community Health Worker Toolkit

Developed for use in NYU-CUNY Prevention Research Center programs, our free Community Health Worker Toolkit can be adapted to fit the unique needs of other community health worker programs. Available materials include a Toolkit Training Manual, a template Progress Note, and eight educational Flip Charts, which can be used during community health worker interactions with community members.