Martha Castilla: Promoting Health & the COVID-19 Vaccine for Latinos



Martha Castilla loves helping people.   Her compassion started as a young girl, as her family came to San Antonio from Mexico.   “I started helping my brothers and sisters when we got to this country because they didn't speak English,” Castilla said.   Today, Castilla works as a promotora de salud, or a community health worker, educating the Latino community about health and wellness.  That includes getting the COVID-19 vaccine herself – and sharing how others can, too.  COVID-19 vaccines are available and free for adults and children, and they’re the best way to protect yourself and your familia against the worst outcomes of the virus.  Because, when the pandemic hit, Latinos like Castilla were on the front lines.   “I remember when we went to ...

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Join Komen’s Patient Navigation Training Program



Susan G. Komen, a national breast cancer research and advocacy organization, has launched its Navigation Nation interactive learning community for patient navigators – those who help guide cancer patients to overcome barriers toward quality healthcare.  The program brings individuals through a Patient Navigation Training Program and access to courses, webinars, and other educational events.  “The training program gives navigators the tools and resources to overcome barriers for those experiencing breast health inequities and provides a peer network and support system,” according to the Komen website.    Learn more about this free program and what it entails, and how you can join.   What is Komen’s Patient Navigation Training Program?  This program was designed ...

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$3 Million Grant to Improve Public Health in the Lone Star State


community health worker

Good news for Texans! A $3 million grant will help UT Health San Antonio train 275 new community health workers (CHWs) and support an additional 75 CHWs in maintaining state certification. The grant, issued by the US Department of Health and Human Services/Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), will train CHWs across 38 South Texas counties from Brownsville to Laredo, including the area’s rural communities. The grant is part of the federal government’s $226.5 million investment in the nation’s community and public health workforce, announced in September 2022. The Importance of CHWs Also known as promotoras de salud and patient navigators, CHWs connect patients to healthcare and facilitate communication between healthcare providers and patients, including ...

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Promotoras in California Have Community on the Right Track toward Improving Health



Promotores de salud have long been recognized as being able to break down barriers that keep many Latinos from obtaining quality, accessible health care. Often members of the community in which they do outreach, promotores are able to foster trust with the Latino population they serve. In San Luis Obispo, Calif. (16.36% Latino population), the Promotores Collaborative looks to have moved the area’s Latino community onto the “fast track” of being able to access the city’s health resources. The group is an emerging prevention and health education organization that works in the community through neighbor-to-neighbor outreach. Created by the nonprofit Center for Family Strengthening, the Promotores Collaborative recruits, organizes, and trains networks of Spanish-speaking ...

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Hospital System Utilizes Promotoras to Improve Latino Health



Latinos are one of the fastest growing populations in the country. They are expected to grow from 1 in 6 people today to 1 in 4 by 2035 and 1 in 3 by 2060. Latinos often face many barriers that keep them from attaining the best healthcare possible. In realizing the disparities that exist for Latinos, unique strategies have often been employed to try to overcome these hurdles. One of the main strategies is employing promotoras de salud. These layperson community health workers are able to build trust in the community and connect hard-to-reach Latinos to health and social resources. In the city of Arlington Heights, IL (5.6% Latino population), their growing Latino population now have new advocates for them. Northwest Community Healthcare (NCH) has hired five promotoras to go into the ...

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New Grant Funds Promotoras in Sacramento



In the Latino community, promotoras de salud are often invaluable parts of the healthcare process. Often times, they are critical in removing cultural barriers that prevent Latinos from accessing quality healthcare. A project in Sacramento, Calif. (28.08% Latino population), is looking to create even more promotoras in the area. The Sacramento Region Community Foundation recently provided a grant to Empower Yolo’s “Promotoras for Active Living” Project. The mission of Empower Yolo is “to promote safe, healthy and resilient communities.” The promotoras they hire are often past clients or lay members of the community who have been trained to “deliver culturally appropriate health education” to the friends and neighbors. In order to reduce health disparities, it is ...

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Some Latinos See Volunteer Health Workers as ‘Unwanted Salespeople’


promotora patient navigator

For many years, health programs have used volunteer community health workers called promotoras to deliver culturally sensitive health and wellness information to Latinos. But some Latinos may misunderstand what a promotora is all about. In fact, Mexican-born rural Latinas in rural Illinois communities were biased against promotoras because they perceived them as more like "unwanted salespeople" or "promoters" engaged in for-profit enterprises than legitimate volunteer health liaisons, according to a new study, columnist Esther J. Cepeda reports. The study, led by researchers including former Salud America! grantee Dr. Angela Wiley at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, found that Latinas' negative perceptions of promotoras kept them from engaging in the researchers' ...

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Group Begins Organizing Promotoras in Northern California



Promotoras have long been acknowledged as important agents of healthy change in Latino communities. Thanks in large part with their relationships in the community and the specialized health education they receive, promotoras are often able to reach Latinos that “traditional” health care workers cannot. In Northern California’s Sonoma Valley, the La Luz Center was founded to provide a variety of social and health services to the area’s burgeoning Latino population. Now, their new initiative will begin organizing and training promotoras to go into the community and promote healthy lifestyles. According to a story in the Sonoma Index-Tribune, the first group includes seven area women who received training from La Luz, the Sonoma Valley Community Health Center, and Sonoma Valley ...

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#SaludTues Tweetchat 1/17: The Power of Promotores


promotora promotores

Many Latinos struggle with cultural, language, and other barriers to healthcare, which is why they face disproportionate rates of diabetes, obesity, certain cancers, and other issues. The good news: Promotores are an emerging solution. Promotores, also called community health workers, patient navigators or health advocates, increasingly play an important role in promoting community-based health education and prevention in a manner that is culturally and linguistically appropriate for Latinos. Let’s use #SaludTues on Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2017, to tweet how to utilize, train, and incorporate more promotores for Latinos: WHAT: #SaludTues Tweetchat: “The Power of Promotores” TIME/DATE: 1-2 p.m. ET (Noon-1 p.m. CT), Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2017 WHERE: On Twitter with hashtag ...

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