Curriculum development to decrease obesity in Hispanic residents through promotor outreach

In San Bernardino County, California, approximately 63% of adults are overweight or obese. This includes 76% of all Hispanic residents, who compose 48% of the county's population. Masters of Public Health (MPH) Global Health students partnered with a San Bernardino community-based organization (CBO) to develop a nutrition and physical activity curriculum that would train local promotores de salud. These lay health workers use their understanding of the community's culture and values to provide health education in schools, churches, and homes. The curriculum topics were established in conjunction with CBO staff after conducting a focus group with the promotores and reviewing existing curricula. An initial 5-hour pilot curriculum was established based on the focus group responses. Techniques of popular education were used to begin training promotores with the pilot curriculum. MPH students continued to develop the remaining 15 hours of curriculum in collaboration with promotores and CBO staff. The complete 20-hour nutrition and physical activity curriculum focused on individual and family lifestyle change, and included an existing 5-hour Parents in Action module promoting advocacy among parents with a focus on school nutrition policies. MPH Nutrition students partnered with the Global Health students to conduct a formative evaluation of the curriculum. This session will discuss challenges, lessons learned, and strategies used in a successful interdisciplinary, community-university partnership that seeks to promote sustainable community health promotion.