The Latino Health Advocacy Program: A Collaborative Lay Health Advisor Approach

There have been numerous calls in the literature for health educators to develop programs to improve access to and utilization of health and human services by traditionally underserved communities, including Latinos. While the literature suggests several principles that can guide the development of...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Health education & behavior 1997-08, Vol.24 (4), p.495-509
Main Authors: Baker, Elizabeth A., Bouldin, Niva, Durham, Maria, Lowell, Monica Escobar, Gonzalez, Maria, Jodaitis, Nancy, Cruz, Leo Negron, Torres, Idali, Torres, Miriam, Adams, Sara Trillio
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Access to Health Care
Advisors
Advocacy
Barriers
Bilingualism
Communication Skills
Community Health Services - organization & administration
Community Health Workers
Community Relations
Delivery Systems
Ethnic Groups
Health Care
Health Education
Health Needs
Health Personnel
Health Professions
Health Promotion
Health Services
Health Services Accessibility
Health Services Needs and Demand
Hispanic Americans
Holistic Approach
Human Services
Humans
Interinstitutional Relations
Latin American Cultural Groups
Lay People
Laypersons
Local Issues
Massachusetts
Physical Health
Pilot Projects
Program Design
Program Development
Program Evaluation
Public Health
Social Change
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:There have been numerous calls in the literature for health educators to develop programs to improve access to and utilization of health and human services by traditionally underserved communities, including Latinos. While the literature suggests several principles that can guide the development of these programs, it is important to address the needs, and build on the strengths, of the specific community of interest. It is, therefore, important to use collaborative approaches in which community members take an active role in the initiation, design, implementation, and evaluation of program activities. Lay health advisor programs are particularly well suited to this approach as they are designed to build on the strength of already existing community relationships to improve community health. This article describes a collaborative, culturally appropriate, holistic, and ecological lay health advisor program—the Latino Health Advocacy Program. Lessons learned and implications for future program development are discussed.
ISSN:1090-1981
1552-6127
DOI:10.1177/109019819702400408