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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Britt Rios-Ellis, PhD, MS¹, Lorena Rodriguez Chandler, MPH¹, and Carlos A. Ugarte, MSPH². (1) NCLR/CSULB Center for Latino Community Health, California State University Long Beach, 6300 State University Drive, Suite 125, Long Beach, CA 90815, 5629854127, bellis@csulb.edu, (2) Institute for Hispanic Health, National Council of La Raza, Raul Yzaguirre Building, 1126 16th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20036

In 2002, the National Council of La Raza, in collaboration with Pfizer, initiated a peer education (promotores) program of the national Sana La Rana Latino health project targeting Spanish speaking Latinos in Houston, Texas and Miami, Florida. Community based promotores were trained in basic nutrition, cholesterol physiology, and educational techniques and supported by community based organization homes to engage in nutritional counseling and cholesterol-related education. Each year over 10,000 direct contacts are made through charlas or group educational sessions, one-on-one counseling, and health fairs. In addition to the direct contacts made, due to the fact that the majority of the participants are mothers, the potential impact for positive changes in family health is also evident. Data collected in 2005 indicate that Latinos had little previous knowledge of cholesterol, but are very favorable to promotores-based education. The promotores based model will be discussed and results from the 2005 outreach work will be presented. Data indicate that prior exposure to a peer educator not only affects intention to positively change behavior through diet and exercise modifications, but also results in a greater recall of cholesterol levels if the participant is hypercholesterolemic. The Sana La Rana promotores program demonstrates the effectiveness of collaboration between private, national non-profit, and community based partnerships in developing awareness and intention to action at the community level.

Learning Objectives: By the end of the presentation the participant will

• Better understand the specific components of a peer education program targeting Latinos
• Recognize the impact and potential effectiveness of promotores based programs to augment health care among the underserved
• Define measurement parameters for promotores based programs impacting Latino health

Keywords: Latinos, Peer Education

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Not Answered