Constructing a policy-based strategy for Community Health Workers: Promotora's Preparedness Network

Promotoras are currently recognized by both public health entities and Colonias' residents as social mobilizers and community liaisons in the Texas-Mexico Border Region. However, a new role in local emergency response planning is emerging for these women. To initiate discussion at the state and local level, a model for integration, is being proposed. This model, the Promotora's Preparedness Network, serves as a policy-based strategy with two goals. The first goal is for Promotoras to become advocates for their role in the emergency response system. The Promotora's Preparedness Network expects to bring together major stakeholders in a statewide collaborative effort to meet, with a shared vision, the unique preparedness challenges being faced along the Texas-Mexico border. The second goal of the Promotora's Preparedness Network is to assist state and local agencies in identifying priorities in preparedness implementation for special populations, using a bottom-up approach. For example, Promotoras organized in a network, can more effectively plan and implement a media campaign that provides information about health and safety threats, specifically targeting a vulnerable population group with whom they work daily. This model was constructed using information gathered through interviews with key state officials and members of a promotoras' organization, secondary research, and observations in the field. Next steps include a socialization process of the model at the state and local level, and a validation stage with Promotoras along the Border Region.