Creating Transborder Centers of Excellence for the Prevention of Chronic Illness (3) Systematic review of Promotora community and work-place based models in cross border health promotion and chronic disease prevention

This presentation will discuss the use of socio-ecological frameworks to explore, assess and inventory the necessary elements of promising community and workplace-based promotora outreach programs on the US Mexico border and internally in the US and Mexico successful in cross-border health promotion and chronic disease prevention. The research strategy is a 4-stage process. First, existing health promotion and promotora outreach programs aimed at cross-border health promotion and disease prevention of chronic diseases will be identified and inventoried in a database through peer reviewed and gray literature from both US and Mexico. Second, we will develop a protocol to systematically assess these programs for promising practices in health promotion and chronic disease prevention. Assuming the process of producing change is incremental, we will use the protocol to determine programs that simultaneously target community awareness, community capacity, change agents and policy development. Correspondingly, the Social Ecological Model will guide the review of the level at which the program addresses the reciprocal influence of interpersonal, intrapersonal, organization, community/media, and environment/public policy domains on healthy behavior. Third, interventions incorporating elements of the guiding conceptual models will be identified as promising and will be selected for key informant interviews. Key informant interviews with program innovators will enable the construction of the socio-political context in which the promising program took place and determine details related to institutional capacity contributing to its success. Finally, recommendations as to the critical elements and strategies for cross-border promotora models on health promotion and disease prevention of chronic diseases will be identified.