Resources Needed to Implement AMIGAS

Answer the following questions to see if AMIGAS might be the right program for you.

• Does my organization want to increase cervical cancer screening among Hispanic women and Latinas in my community?
• Will the leadership in my organization support AMIGAS?
• Can health care providers in my community handle an increase in the demand for cervical cancer screening that may result from implementing AMIGAS?

If you answered yes to all of the questions above, AMIGAS may be a good fit for your organization. Before you commit, make sure you know what resources you would need to make AMIGAS a success in your community.

Possible Expenses

Implementing a new program takes time and money. How much time and money will depend on your program and your community. It will also depend on how large a program you want to have. Some questions to think about are—

• How many patients do you plan to serve?
• Will AMIGAS be integrated with another community health worker program, or will it operate by itself?
• Will it be staffed by a single community health worker or a large group of community health workers?

Below we provide a more detailed description of what these costs might include.

• Community health workers. Some programs use paid community health workers. Other programs use volunteers or consultants. Estimate how many community health workers you will use and determine how much they will be paid. If they are paid staff, be sure to include benefits and health insurance. If they are volunteers, you may still have expenses related to insurance or incentives.
• Other staff. Estimate how many hours of supervision you will need per week for the community health workers and what the cost will be for the supervisor’s time. In Setting Goals for Your Program, we provide more information on what needs to be done to plan and implement AMIGAS. This information will help you think about the staff you may need. Be sure to include other costs such as benefits and insurance.
• Equipment and supplies. Your community health workers may need a bag to store the tool box items and other supplies such as small gifts for participants as well as a speculum and cytology brush to use in the education sessions. The list below will help you estimate costs. To keep these costs to a minimum, you can ask for donated services and products. Many programs find that they can secure items such as brochures or gifts at little or no cost. You will also need supplies to support your community health worker training. These may include food, child care, or gifts for community health workers to celebrate the end of the training.
• Travel. You may need to reimburse community health workers for travel to attend in-person training sessions and to deliver the AMIGAS program.
• Facilities. If you are meeting in person and your organization doesn’t have meeting space for the community health worker training and group sessions, you will need to estimate the cost of a room rental.
• In-kind resources. You may be able to get in-kind donations to help with AMIGAS. These might include staff time, meeting or storage space, incentives and gifts, brochures, or copying. Be creative in asking for donations, and keep track of them. Being able to show all of the donated resources you have received will help you show the support you have in your organization and the community for AMIGAS.
• Indirect costs. These costs are the expenses of doing business that are not readily identified with a particular grant, contract, project, or activity. Yet they are necessary for the organization’s general operation and its activities.

The list below will help you think about the resources you may need.