Project REACH: a program to train community-based lay health educators

The major purpose of this project was to test the feasibility of recruiting and training volunteers as lay health educators who could coordinate and reinforce the educational efforts of health care providers. A committee of health care professionals designed a 16-hour program. Twenty-five volunteers from T1 religious institutions and 4 retirement communities completed the 8-week program. The program was successful in identifying, recruiting, and training volunteers from racially and religiously diverse institutions. Favorable outcomes included participants' satisfaction and success in organizing numerous educational and screening programs in their communities.