Community Health Advocate - Banteay Srei

Asian Health Services•Oakland, CA

3d•Onsite

About The Position

Asian Health Services (AHS), founded in 1974, provides comprehensive medical, dental, and behavioral health services, focusing on 'whole patient health' and addressing social determinants of health such as income, housing, and environmental factors. The Banteay Srei program specifically supports adolescent girls and young women at risk of or who are survivors of commercial sexual exploitation (CSE), sex trafficking, sexual assault, and trauma. This role involves advocacy, outreach, and support services, contributing to patient and community access, utilization, and satisfaction with AHS services. The position also involves planning and implementing advocacy activities through patient and community education and engagement, spanning duties in Member Services, Support Services, Clinical Services, and Community Services.

Requirements

A Bachelor’s degree and two years of work-related experience in a health setting OR a high school diploma and four years of relevant work experience.
Direct, one-on-one advocacy and support to adolescent girls and young women who have experienced sexual exploitation, trafficking, gender-based violence, and other forms of trauma.
Knowledge of the relationship between advocacy and improving the health of the Asian community.
Knowledge of cultural, socioeconomic and political factors affecting health in immigrant and refugee Asian communities.
Knowledge of health, social services, and community resources/leaders in at least one API community.
Ability to lead and work with diverse staff and community members respectfully and collaboratively.
Ability to engage in innovative, cooperative, and collaborative problem-solving.
Ability to plan and coordinate small-medium scale projects and events.
Strong interpersonal and communication skills, both oral and written.
Ability to organize and engage immigrant communities in education and advocacy activities.
Ability to work under pressure and handle multiple tasks.
Ability to exercise good judgment.
Ability to work independently with minimal supervision.
Available to work on weekends and evenings as needed.
High level of concentration required to coordinate multiple program tasks, problem-solve with external organizations, and coordinate with other departments and programs of the entire organization.

Nice To Haves

Preferred Bachelor’s degree majors: health, social service, or other closely-related fields.
Experience in youth development, community engagement, victim services, or a related human services field.
Bilingual applicants who speak Khmer or Vietnamese are strongly encouraged to apply.
Proficiency in or ability to learn English and Asian language word processing.

Responsibilities

Conduct and document health education and outreach activities in a linguistically and culturally appropriate manner.
Conduct perinatal workshops and participate in planning, implementing, and monitoring changes to improve perinatal services.
Conduct community needs assessments and evaluation activities to plan effective programs and services.
Develop and maintain contacts and working relations with staff at other organizations serving the Asian immigrant community.
Represent AHS in various community forums and meetings.
Coordinate and participate in health education materials development, including adaptation, translation, design, duplication, and review.
Coordinate the collection of data, summarize, and write evaluation reports for funding requirements.
Create a welcoming environment in the waiting area, addressing patient needs, answering questions, and directing them to appropriate services.
Conduct outreach/education activities and patient surveys in the waiting room.
Provide back-up phone, on-site, and message-relay interpreting services for all healthcare-related interactions.
Provide interpreting services during educational workshops, activities, special events, meetings, and other organizational activities.
Observe current codes of ethics and standards of practice for health care interpreting.
Sight-translate written materials between English and the language of service.
Translate written clinic, health education, and organizational materials.
Participate in developing and implementing tools and activities to assess language proficiency and interpreting skills, and to train AHS staff.
Greet and register patients, update patient records, and create and distribute forms.
Verify insurance and financial status of patients and update records.
Determine and explain insurance benefits and payment responsibilities, and collect co-payments.
Answer and appropriately handle intercom and phone calls, assessing caller needs and assisting them.
Facilitate internal and external referrals and appointments, including scheduling, canceling, and rescheduling.
Make daily appointment reminder calls to assigned patients.
Anticipate and take proactive steps to identify and avoid patient problems.
Facilitate resolution of problems within AHS departments, between departments, or involving external organizations.
Assist patients to complete all healthcare-related paperwork and process their paperwork.
Assist medical records with chart retrieval, responding to record requests, copying records, and participating in annual purges.
Carry out phone and mail communications with patients related to their health care needs and AHS treatment and services.
Conduct patient financial screening to determine eligibility for various payment programs.
Assist patients in completing forms and applications for payment programs and follow up on pending statuses.
Assist patients in selecting a primary care provider and a health insurance plan.
Contact health plans and insurance companies to verify coverage and referral requirements.
Update patient financial information.
Answer inquiries and provide counseling regarding Medi-Cal, Medicare, and other social service needs.
Answer phone calls and make appointments for members.
Assist the Member Services Manager in conducting member exit interviews and processing monthly member rosters.
Provide advocacy for AHS patients/members due to government welfare reform and immigration policies.
Conduct medical history intake interviews for all patients.
Foster an environment that promotes trust and cooperation among clients and staff.
Enforce clinic policies and procedures, including client confidentiality under HIPAA privacy rules.
Play an active role in planning organization-wide activities.
Participate in general membership meetings, fundraisers, and other public events.
Participate in outreach activities, agency advocacy, and serve on ad hoc committees.
Attend AHS staff retreats and Board of Directors meetings.
Participate in agency-wide quality improvement program processes and performance improvement teams.