Background:

Civic engagement increases knowledge about environmental issues including air pollution and community capacity to influence local policies and practices. Nonetheless, additional efforts are needed to support residents and local community based organizations to help advance environmental justice initiatives in Latino communities.

Objective:

Through focus groups with lay community residents, assess facilitators and barriers of civic engagement and assess how involvement in Natural Park events can promote interest in issues of environmental justice among 20 Latino residents ages 18-75 years residing in Boyle Heights.

Methods:

Latino residents ages 18-75 from Boyle Heights, California were recruited to participate in 1 one of 3 focus groups. Focus groups participants were eligible if they i) did not participate in key informant interviews, ii) not necessarily involved with LegacyLA’s natural park air pollution solution and iii) live or have worked in Boyle Heights. Participants received a $50 gift card supported by the Campus Community Research Incubator (CCRI) grant.

Results:

Twenty-six participants between 33-68 years of age were recruited. Majority of participants were female (n=23, 88%), born outside the US (n=23, 88%). Majority reported living or working in Boyle Heights between 2-34 years. Half of participants (n=13, 50.00%) reported obtaining an education level between Kinder-8th grade. Participants discussed several key themes including tools and resources to help improve air quality in Boyle Heights and LegacyLA’s role in supporting Boyle Heights Residents engage with elected officials

Discussion:

Civic Engagement is essential to support and sustain environmental justice initiatives in low income, segregated Latino communities.

Background: Community Health Workers (CHWs), or Promatoras de Salud, are liaisons to culturally appropriate resources and health services (Texas HHS, 2020). Prior studies indicate how CHWs address health disparities; however, more research is needed to identify gaps in addressing health literacy and caring for patients with chronic conditions. Using literature reviews and qualitative research, this study demonstrates CHW roles in improving health outcomes in chronically ill underserved communities in Houston. Methods: Study participants included certified CHWs and community stakeholders who have worked with CHWs in the past five years. Primary data collection was obtained via surveys and six focus groups. Recruitment included advertising methods, community events and snowballing. Qualitative Thematic Analysis identified themes addressing CHWs’ role and effectiveness in health outcomes and health literacy. Results: The study collected 163 survey results and 25 focus group participants. Focus Group Preliminary Themes: (1) CHWs provide a wide array of valuable support to patients in navigating access to care and social resources, (2) no standard description of CHWs has been identified, (3) CHWs express being underpaid, undervalued and underutilized, (4) CWHs establish trust with communities, (5) CHWs reached more people throughout the pandemic via virtual communication, (6) CHWs connected clients to social and health related resources benefiting their wellbeing. Conclusions/ Discussion: The preliminary results demonstrate the diversity of services and support CHWs provide to communities, and potential platforms to further support the efforts of CHWs. This work will lead to increased awareness about the positive impact of CHWs in populations experiencing chronic illnesses.

Background: Black Americans bear the burden of new HIV infections. Given their role, faith-based organizations (FBO) can play a larger role in reducing the spread of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STI/HIV) within Black communities. One example of engaging FBOs in STI/HIV interventions, YOUR Blessed Health (YBH), has trained 350+ faith leaders and reached 40,000+ congregants across 9 denominations across 13+ states. This study seeks to understand how YBH impacted faith leaders’ perceptions of their role in STI/HIV prevention.

Methods: From January 2019 - November 2019, a series of semi-structured interviews with 23 faith leaders and 5 spouses of faith leaders whose FBOs have used YBH. Twenty-six participants self-identified as Black American, one as White, and one as Original. The constant comparative method was used to code and analyze data iteratively to develop themes.

Results: Participants reported different faith beliefs concerning STI/HIV prevention; however, they personally engaged in a variety of STI/HIV prevention activities since adopting YBH. We identified three themes which describe their perceptions of how YBH influenced their decisions to promote STI/HIV prevention: 1) statistics relevant to the faith-based community, 2) existing relationships with the FBOs that do STI/HIV prevention and 3) flexibility of the STI/HIV prevention curriculum.

Conclusions: By understanding faith leaders’ perceptions for supporting STI/HIV prevention, faith leaders can be incorporated into other health interventions. Through the integration of faith leaders, interventions can more holistically mitigate social and ethical challenges impacting under-resourced minority communities’ health and wellness.

Background: Gender-based violence (GBV) disproportionately affects women and girls globally due to systemic economic and social inequalities and discriminatory gender norms that privilege men over women. In Botswana GBV is endemic with around 67% of women experiencing GBV at least once during their lifetime. We hypothesized that a community based approach to develop, implement, and evaluate a GBV prevention program for adolescents and their caregivers will improve participants’ knowledge and attitudes towards GBV and its prevention.

Methods: We collected data between June 2022 and August 2023 using a sequential transformative design and the Sustainable Community Partnership and Empowerment (SCOPE) strategy - a modified community-based participatory research approach. Participants included 150 adolescent (n = 75) and caregiver (n = 75) dyads across three schools. A retrospective post-then-pre survey, in-depth interviews, and focus group discussions were used to measure shifts in participants’ self-reported knowledge and attitudes and program feasibility. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Qualitative data were analyzed using inductive thematic analysis.

Results: Changes were observed in participants’ self-reported knowledge and attitudes related to gender equity and GBV. Qualitative analysis provided insight into the acceptability, and feasibility of a GBV prevention program and guided transformations of the program for continued use.

Conclusions: Participation in this GBV prevention program resulted in positive shifts in participants’ knowledge and attitudes towards GBV and gender equity. Some participants showed interest in adopting the program long-term and interest in delivering the program in future years.