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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Lorena Rodriguez Chandler, MPH¹, Carlos A. Ugarte, MSPH², and Liany Elba Arroyo, MPH². (1) NCLR/CSULB Center for Latino Community Health, Evaluation, and Leadership Training, National Council of La Raza, Raul Yzaguirre Building, 1126 16th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20036, 562-985-5242, lchandler@nclr.org, (2) Institute for Hispanic Health, National Council of La Raza, Raul Yzaguirre Building, 1126 16th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20036

In the U.S., whose public policy regime doesn't recognize health care as a human right, the public health system uses discretionary and market-based approaches, not legal mandates, to promote health care access for all. Typically, traditional social marketing campaigns seek to assure that underserved groups are sufficiently knowledgeable about health conditions for which they are at higher risk, and once informed, to seek and receive appropriate medical treatment. Research suggests that such campaigns are ineffective in promoting health care awareness among underserved groups, especially low-income, Latino immigrants. One type of formative community-based research model demonstrates substantial potential in reaching underserved populations. The National Council of La Raza has completed more than a dozen major community-based formative health research efforts in recent years. Such research has numerous applications: shaping education and outreach campaigns that resonate with target groups; developing interventions that induce underserved populations to adopt healthier lifestyle behaviors; and testing strategies that encourage underserved populations to seek appropriate treatment for serious health conditions. However, few such efforts are evaluated formally. Together with California State University Long Beach, NCLR has produced promising evaluation findings which appear to confirm the potential efficacy of NCLR's model for producing behavior change – in knowledge acquired, lifestyle modifications, and/or in seeking treatment – among low-income Hispanic immigrants, the nation's most underserved population.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session, the participant (learner) in this session will be able to

• Describe principal components of NCLR’s model.
• Identify findings from recent evaluations of the model.
• Articulate remaining research gaps and potential strategies to address them.
• Discuss larger implications of research findings on U.S. health policy and practice.

Keywords: Community Health Planning, Research

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Not Answered