Assessing the health status of hard-to-reach Latino immigrants

The Latino Health for All Coalition is a community partnership working to address health disparities among recently immigrated Latinos in Kansas City. Funded by NCMHD to undertake a CBPR process, the coalition implemented a measurement system to capture changes in the environment brought about by the Coalition (intermediate outcomes), but they were challenged by how to assemble evidence of changes in longer-term outcomes by assessing the health of a population for which there is traditionally very little health data. The purpose of this study was to examine the health status, health behaviors, and barriers to engaging in healthy behaviors of recently immigrated Latinos in the Kansas City metropolitan area. Methods: A door-to-door survey was conducted of households in three zipcodes densely populated by Latinos. Community residents were trained to administer a 54-question survey. The CBPR process informed the choice to conduct door-to door survey due to the prevalent use of prepaid cell phones and the training elements which included how to knock on the doors in a non-aggressive manner. Results: A total of 947 surveys were completed (adjusted response rate 83%). Preliminary results suggest that about 75% of the population is overweight or obese; 72% of the target population report not having any health coverage; and 33% report not engaging in any leisure time activity. Conclusions: This study offers several implications for public health practice, including notes on methods to contact hard-to-reach, vulnerable populations. Additionally, it provides evidence of substantial health disparities among Latinos in the Kansas City metropolitan area.