Trusted engagement
Community Health Workers meet people with cultural and language awareness, listen to their questions, and help make health information practical.
AIFS Health Screening & Education Center
The AIFS RELAIS Model
A Culturally Responsive Preventive Health, Screening & Care Navigation Model
RELAIS connects trusted community engagement, risk identification, education, healthcare navigation, referral, and continuity of care into one coordinated pathway.
From screening to care
From Screening to Care — The AIFS RELAIS Pathway
Reach • Evaluate • Look for Risk • Advise • Integrate • Sustain
The model
What is RELAIS?
Screening is one part of a coordinated pathway.
RELAIS describes how AIFS moves from trusted community engagement to a person’s next step. It brings together language access, understanding health risks and barriers, preventive screening, culturally responsive education, healthcare navigation, referral, and continuity of care.
The model is designed to help people understand what screening information may mean, identify practical next steps, and stay connected when follow-up or referral support is part of the confirmed program. It is a pathway from community to care—not a promise of a particular provider, outcome, timeline, or service.
Screen. Understand. Connect. Follow Through.
The pathway
The Six-Step RELAIS Pathway
Each step makes the next connection clearer, from trusted community contact to sustained follow-through.
One pathway
Six connected actions
- 01
R — REACH
Trusted community engagement and language access.
- 02
E — EVALUATE
Health risks, healthcare access, and barriers.
- 03
L — LOOK FOR RISK
Preventive screening and early risk identification.
- 04
A — ADVISE
Culturally responsive education and action planning.
- 05
I — INTEGRATE
CHW navigation, warm referrals, and connection to care.
- 06
S — SUSTAIN
Follow-up, referral completion, and continuity of care.
The handoff
From Community to Care
RELAIS keeps the person’s next connection visible across the pathway.
COMMUNITY
AIFS RELAIS
HEALTHCARE / SOCIAL SERVICE PARTNER
AIFS FOLLOW-UP
CONTINUITY OF CARE
COMMUNITY
The available partner, referral, and follow-up pathway depends on the confirmed program and participating organizations. RELAIS helps organize the connection; it does not establish an unconfirmed provider relationship.
Practical barriers
What RELAIS Helps Address
The model may help identify and work through barriers that can make prevention and care harder to reach. It does not guarantee a service, resource, or outcome.
- 01Lack of a primary care provider
- 02Insurance or cost
- 03Language
- 04Transportation
- 05Work or childcare
- 06Food access
- 07Medication affordability
- 08Health literacy
The CHW difference
The Community Health Worker Difference
A trusted person can make a complicated next step easier to understand and act on.
Education and action planning
They can support understanding, clarify possible next steps, and help a person make a plan that fits the situation.
Navigation and barrier resolution
They help identify practical barriers and navigate forms, systems, appointments, and connections to care when that support is available.
Referral support and follow-up
Rather than simply handing someone a referral number, the pathway can include a supported connection, referral follow-through, and continuity support when the confirmed program includes it.
After the screening
What Happens After a Screening?
The next step is part of the pathway.
- 01Understand your results
- 02Identify your next step
- 03Get help connecting to care
- 04Address barriers
- 05Complete the referral
- 06Stay connected
A clear next step
RELAIS Is More Than Screening
A screening is not the end of the service. It is the beginning of a pathway to action.
Where supported by the confirmed program, that pathway can use teach-back to check understanding, warm handoffs to support the connection, closed-loop referral tracking to follow the referral, barrier resolution to address practical obstacles, and continuity support to help a person stay connected to care.
Important to know
Safety & Scope
RELAIS provides prevention, screening, health education, navigation, referral, and continuity support. It does not replace medical diagnosis, clinical judgment, emergency services, or care from licensed healthcare providers.
Screening information is not a diagnosis. If you have an emergency, call 911 or use emergency services. For questions about a confirmed screening or navigation program, contact AIFS before traveling so current scope and availability can be explained.
Take the next step
Start Your RELAIS Pathway
Whether you need a preventive screening, help understanding your health risks, or support connecting with healthcare, AIFS can help you identify the next step.