Preventing Chronic Disease (Jan 2007)
Building Community Capacity for Health Promotion in a Hispanic Community
Abstract
The Latino Education Project (LEP) is conducting a multilevel Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH) 2010 diabetes prevention project in Nueces County, one of 12 counties located in the Coastal Bend area of south Texas. Nueces County is characterized by high levels of poverty and diabetes-related complications and disability. The LEP chose a community capacity-building approach to diabetes prevention and health promotion to help midlife and elderly Latinos increase their ability to prevent, control, and manage diabetes and associated disabilities. In each intervention conducted through the LEP, project workers emphasize the importance of building community health-promotion capacity and recognize the important role that local leaders play in this process. Community-wide health forums, coalitions, and partnership development are key elements in promoting organizational development. These activities increase the social participation necessary for effective community building and problem solving. The use of study circles, or Ollas del Buen Comer, are one of the key approaches used to reinforce health-related culture, language-specific needs, and the lifestyle of participants in relation to the environment.Participation of community lay health educators, promotores de salud, is crucial to achieve project goals because of the leadership they provide in their communities. Promotores are helpful in one-on-one interactions, and they are crucial in creating environmental changes necessary to reduce the prevalence of risk factors associated with diabetes and other chronic diseases. Some of the tasks required for promotores to be effective in this REACH 2010 project are the focus of this discussion.
