We're in!

Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Preamble

The overall health profile of Hispanics/Latinos presents a striking socioeconomic disparity when compared with the health status of the rest of the American population. Nevertheless, much can be done to improve the health of this population by implementing health promotion and disease prevention (HPDP) interventions. The challenge is to develop and implement efficacious HPDP strategies for improving the health of Hispanics/Latinos across the country. HPDP interventions targeted to Hispanics/Latinos are essential for achieving the Hispanic/Latino-specific health care objectives for the Nation by the year 2000.

Problems

1. Weak infrastructure for training in HPDDP:
   • Lack of multi-disciplinary approaches to HPDP curriculum development.
   • Lack of HPDP curriculum in schools.
   • Lack of formal HPDP training for Hispanic/Latino leaders.
   • Institutionalized and individual racism as a barrier to service delivery and professional development.
2. Lack of proven models for comprehensive, culturally competent, and community-specific primary prevention programs.
3. Lack of public-private partnerships in support of HPDP goals for Hispanics/Latinos.
4. Lack of diffusion of culturally appropriate HPDP models and lack of community resources for the replication of successful Hispanic/Latino HPDP models.
5. Lack of media awareness of Hispanic/Latino HPDP issues.
6. Lack of cooperation in addressing environmental hazards and HPDP issues among countries in the Americas (the U.S.- Mexican border, Central and South America, and the Caribbean).

Summary of Key Strategies

1. Encourage and endorse authorizing legislation at the Federal level to direct Federal funds for the development and evaluation of HPDP programs directed toward Hispanic/Latino groups.
2. Integrate paraprofessionals, informal community leaders, ethnic/folk healers, "Promoters de Salud," and other community health workers in HPDP programming for the Hispanic/Latino community, and provide appropriate recognition and incentives for their participation.
3. Use appropriate media resources and community networks at local, State, and Federal levels to educate Hispanic/Latino communities regarding HPDP issues.
4. Establish guidelines for Hispanic/Latino national and community-based organizations for accepting corporate contributions; corporations' products and services must be compatible with HPDP goals.
5. Make HPDP issues (including environmental issues) critical elements in the regulations and implementation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
6. Develop a mass media marketing plan that informs the public on how to gain access to and properly utilize health and related services. This plan should target Spanish-speaking and bilingual Hispanics, especially in areas where little or no information is available. (State and local)

Specific Strategies

Representation and Communication

• Include culturally sensitive and competent Spanish-language components in all public health education campaigns currently being funded by DHHS.
• Include Hispanic/Latino representation in the development of outreach and public information campaigns, including television, radio, and the print media.
• Integrate paraprofessionals, informal community leaders, ethnic/folk healers, "Promoters de Salud,"and other community health workers in HPDP programming for the Hispanic/Latino community, and provide appropriate recognition/incentives for their participation.
• Establish a comprehensive Hispanic/Latino-specific HPDP mentorship program for research, teaching, and community interventions.
• Develop agendas, workshops, and training for media representatives to promote Hispanic/Latino HPDP programs.
• Develop a mass media marketing plan that informs the public on how to gain access to and properly utilize health and related services. This plan should target Spanish-speaking and bilingual Hispanics, especially in areas where little or no information is available. (State and local)
• Develop multilingual, multimedia public health education campaigns that address lifespan, gender-based, and cultural needs of the diverse Hispanic/ Latino population groups.
• Use appropriate media resources and community networks at local, State, and Federal levels to educate Hispanic/Latino communities regarding HPDP issues.
• Increase the media's awareness of Hispanic/Latino health and HPDP issues and clarify their role in HPDP information dissemination.
• Develop training programs in media advocacy for community residents and organizations.
• Use paid media to complement other HPDP efforts targeting Hispanics/Latinos.

Policy

• Establish policies and procedures by which all requests for proposals (RFPs) for prevention activities at the Federal and State levels have Hispanic/Latino community input.
• Make HPDP issues (including environmental issues) critical elements in the regulations and implementation of the NAFTA.

Resources

• Provide incentives, such as tuition, loan forgiveness programs, and financial benefits, to HPDP program providers for serving Hispanics/Latinos in undeserved communities.
• Increase funding for and the number of Centers of Excellence for Hispanic/Latino health professions with emphasis in HPDP.
• Recommend that all levels of government (Federal, State, and local) increase the use of toll-free hot lines in a culturally appropriate fashion and that they be properly advertised in the communities they serve.
• Foster initiatives that will target and fund Hispanic/Latino-specific HPDP activities (new funding and reallocation of existing funds).
• Expand, establish, and fund Hispanic/Latino health education information clearinghouses at the Federal, State, and county levels.
• Establish guidelines for Hispanic/Latino national and community-based organizations for accepting corporate contributions; corporations' products and services must be compatible with HPDP goals.

Public - Private Partnerships

Establish linkages for HPDP programs and services among community-based organizations, universities, the private sector, and lay people in the community.
• Develop partnerships among training institutions, community-based organizations, and national Hispanic/Latino agencies to collaborate in the design of more appropriate HPDP programs.
• Create a Hispanic/Latino HPDP information network and clearinghouse via a public-private partnership.
• Foster close collaboration between Latin American countries and the United States regarding HPDP issues.

Advocacy

• Promote the importance of wellness, education, early identification of health problems, and appropriate intervention in HPDP via community coalitions.
• Develop national and local Hispanic/Latino constituencies to counter disease-promoting industries.

Legislation

• Encourage and endorse authorizing legislation at the Federal level to direct Federal funds for the development and evaluation of HPDP programs directed toward Hispanic/Latino groups.