Oral

Culture and language are significant barriers to improving the health status of a community. Community health workers, specifically promotores de salud, can help to improve access to preventive and health services for rural and immigrant populations. Presenters will provide examples of the use and impact of promotores in the colonias of McAllen, Texas and rural communities of California, as well as describe methods for improving the cultural competency of healthcare workers. Presenters will also stress the importance of community health planning and policy developments necessary to sustain promotores de salud programs.

Session Objectives: 1) Articulate how promotores make a difference in access to preventive and health services. 2) Describe strategies to promote cultural competency among multidisciplinary health providers, hospital associates, and students in various health professions. 3) Recognize the challenges that immigrant families may face in accessing behavioral health services. 4) Discuss the potential contributions of participatory planning, community partnerships and evaluation to the sustainability of promotores de salud programs. 5) Describe components of the pilot model training program for hospital bilingual staff.

CE Credits: CME, Health Education (CHES), Nursing