Opening doors into communities: An evaluation of a hybridized promotora model for engaging the Chinese immigrant community in lead poisoning prevention in seattle, Washington

Background & Objectives: Promotora (Spanish for ‘Promoter') is an engagement model where trusted community members utilize their own social networks to provide health education and social support to promote changes. Because the model has been successful in Latino communities and elsewhere globally, Public Health—Seattle and King County (PHSKC) worked with a local NGO to adapt the model for lead poisoning prevention in the Chinese-speaking immigrant community in the Beacon Hill neighborhood where residents are at increased risk of lead exposure due to the age of housing units. We evaluated the effectiveness of the Promotora education model in enhancing community engagement, increasing environmental health knowledge, and promoting behavior change in the Chinese community.

Methodology:We recruited bilingual Promotoras to lead 13 workshops in the community. We provided technical support through content expertise, training, and educational materials, while Promotoras developed a curriculum based on participant feedback. Classroom observations, interviews with Promotoras, pre-and post- workshop surveys, and 1-month follow-up phone surveys were conducted to measure participant satisfaction, willingness to engage in future workshops, and changes in knowledge.

Results: Promotoras were successful in recruiting 114 participants, including 6 participants who hosted workshops at home for their friends and family. At one-month follow-up, the overwhelming majority of participants shared their new knowledge with someone and expressed interest in becoming a Promotora. Participants emphasize the importance of attending the workshop with friends and receiving language-concordant instructors and materials. Participants also demonstrated an increase in lead knowledge and a positive health behaviors changes.

Conclusions: Findings suggest that Chinese families residing on Beacon Hill are willing to learn from a bilingual health educator in traditional workshop or residential setting. Results support that Promotoras can successfully recruit participants and promote the sharing of environmental health knowledge within tight-knit social networks in Chinese-speaking and other underserved populations.