252725 Latino Communities Working to Achieve Better Health

Monday, October 31, 2011: 3:10 PM

Sonia Mora, MPH , Latino Health Initiative, Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services, Silver Spring, MD
The Latino Health Initiative (LHI) of the Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services was established in July 2000. The mission of the LHI is to improve the quality of life of Latinos living in Montgomery County by contributing to the development and implementation of an integrated, coordinated, culturally and linguistically competent health wellness system that supports, values, and respects Latino families and communities. The Welcome Back Center of Suburban Maryland is an innovative model of LHI that builds on the personal and professional assets of immigrants living in the United States to: further address health professional shortages; diversify the health workforce; provide economic opportunities to underutilized individuals as they return to work in the health field; and enhance health outcomes of the entire community.

Learning Areas:
Administration, management, leadership
Diversity and culture
Public health administration or related administration
Public health or related education
Public health or related public policy

Learning Objectives:
• Describe the demographic profile of Latinos in Montgomery County, Maryland, including identifying health disparities and health challenges in the Latino community. • Describe the history of the Latino Health Initiative. • Describe a successful model to eliminate health disparities in the Latino American community by training more health professionals.

Keywords: Latino Health, Health Disparities

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am the manager of the Latino Health Initiative of Montgomery county department of Health and Human Services, Maryland.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.