Pioneering the use of e-learning tools to train promotores de salud: A partnership between the HHS office of minority health and the USDA food and nutrition service

As trusted members of their communities, promotores have the potential to connect individuals considered hard-to-reach, especially those in low-income, medically underserved communities, with education and interventions to improve health and narrow disparities in health outcomes. Promotores-facilitated programs have been shown to improve diabetes self-management, breastfeeding outcomes, general nutrition knowledge and dietary intake behaviors, as well as self-reported nutrition and physical activity among Latinos in the U.S. This presentation will discuss a project jointly sponsored by the Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Minority Health (OMH) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to develop an e-learning curriculum designed to build capacity among promotores nationwide to reduce health disparities and improve food security in their communities. The program aims to prepare promotores to educate and empower low-income Latinos, as well as to reduce their food insecurity status through nutrition education and awareness of the USDA's Supplemental Nutrition Access Program (SNAP). The primary audience for this curriculum is Spanish-speaking and bilingual promotores and community health workers who may not have received formal training in nutrition and whose educational level varies. The curriculum will feature interactive multimedia lessons through which learners progress at their own pace. It is anticipated that the curriculum will enhance the capacity of promotores to serve the Latino community with improved health messages and strategies to reduce health disparities.