Assessing Minority Health Needs and Plans: The Benefits of Community-Based Collaborative

Assessing the needs and designing and delivering culturally appropriate public health programs to the Latino population, which includes vast numbers of uninsured and large numbers of migrant, seasonal and undocumented workers, present a unique set of challenges to researchers and public health professionals. This session will discuss the lessons learned and solutions developed in meeting these challenges through the creation of a community-based collaborative research (CBCR) team made up of community, health agency and academic partners. The team was built to address issues of chronic illness among Latinos in Oregon, with an initial focus on arthritis. The team, in its fourth year of operation, has completed 600 surveys, three focus groups, and is in the program delivery stage.

Our discussion will be centered on three themes:

1) CBCR process: A brief discussion will center on specific issues of outreach to this population and adjustments made in the research design and methods to maximize survey outcome;

2) Data: Summary findings from the data will highlight issues of limited access, high rates of pain, significant co-morbidities and associated functional limitations, poor self-rated health, high use of over-the-counter drugs, home remedies and topical lotions; barriers to physical activity, and motivation for self-help.

3) Action plan design and delivery will highlight the influence of the CBCR process and findings in the design and delivery of public health programs.

Conclusion: The CBCR approach has proven to be a highly beneficial tool in gathering valuable data and developing culturally appropriate public health programs for minorities.