Assessing diabetes and cardiovascular disease among uninsured Latinos in Southwest Kansas

Introduction: Latino new immigrants confront fundamental challenges to their health and quality of life including poverty, disruption of family structures, linguistic barriers, low health literacy, changes in diet and poor access to health care. Their main health challenge is the explosion in the incidence of diabetes with 10.4% of Latinos ages 20 years or older diagnosed in the US.

Objective: To implement a community-based screening program to identify prediabetes and cardiovascular disease among uninsured Latinos to empower them with access to preventive health screenings and knowledge.

Methods: The Ventanilla de Salud mobile program was implemented in rural Kansas in 2012 which involves partnership between academic institutions, community leaders, and the local Mexican consulate. Community health fairs are organized throughout the year with the collaboration of trained community health workers and local medical providers to disseminate culturally relevant health education and conduct primary health screenings to identify the health profile of the Latino community in Southwest Kansas.

Results: Since 2012 a total of 25 health fairs have been organized, each year screening around 900 participants mainly Hispanics (95%), uninsured (72%), between 18-40 years old (70%), and recent immigrants (26%). From 2012 to 2014, the percentage of prediabetes has increased from 10.1% to 19.4% (p<0.001), and diabetes has increased from 6.2% to 7.8% (p=0.01). Similarly, pre-hypertension measurements have kept stable with 43.5% since 2012.

Conclusion: It is necessary to assess the health of the underserved Latino community to identify community’s health needs, and provide evidence for community health interventions to eliminate existing health disparities.