When Maria Schinstock’s father was diagnosed with diabetes, she asked him to move closer to her so she could help him manage his condition and day-to-day activities. He eventually moved closer to Maria, but by that time his diabetes was in an advanced stage. Taking care of her terminally ill father made her more aware of the lack of information and support patients with chronic illnesses received in her community. This awareness also influenced her work as a promotora de salud, or community health worker.
In Maria’s words, “sometimes you need to be in the situation to understand others and to be more involved in the community to care more.” As a result of this experience, she was inspired to fill that gap to educate her community and to connect patients to important and sometimes, lifesaving resources by becoming a promotora de salud to provide health education and prevention in a manner that is culturally and linguistically appropriate for Latinos in Nebraska. Her Health Equity Change Makers story, part of a new HHS Office of Minority Health (OMH) digital storytelling project, is one of many that shares compelling testimonials of everyday people who have been personally affected by health disparities, and who have used their experience to raise awareness and inspire change.
Over the years, promotores de salud like Maria have been key partners to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. In 2011, OMH launched the National Promotores de Salud Initiative, as part of the HHS Action Plan to Reduce Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities, to recognize the important contributions of promotores de salud in reaching underserved Latino/Hispanic populations. Whether by tailoring or translating outreach materials to make them relevant for their communities, providing workshops and orientation at health fairs or faith-based organizations, or assisting Latinos in accessing health care coverage and navigating the health care system, promotores de salud have been allies in supporting health education and prevention efforts and access to health insurance programs. And thanks to the Affordable Care Act, along with the support of promotores de salud and other partners across the country, our nation’s uninsured rate has dropped to 8.6 percent. This is the lowest uninsured rate on record for our nation with Hispanic adults showing the greatest percentage decrease.
Promotores de salud also play a key role in ensuring health and social services organizations have the tools and resources they need to provide services that are respectful of and responsive to an individual’s cultural health beliefs, preferred language, health literacy level, and communication needs through the implementation of the National Standards for Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services in Health and Health Care (National CLAS Standards). Developed by OMH in collaboration with federal and non-federal partners across the country, the National CLAS Standards are intended to advance health equity, improve quality, and help eliminate health care disparities by operationalizing the concepts of cultural and linguistic competency into a series of actionable items. Effectively, the National CLAS Standards provide a blueprint for health and health care organizations in delivering culturally and linguistically appropriate care and services to our nation’s diverse communities.
This unique resource is hosted on the newly redesigned Think Cultural Health website, a site dedicated to advancing health equity at every point of contact. The website features basic information on CLAS, free continuing education e-learning curricula, and other resources for health professionals. Other resources for promotores de salud include a free, bilingual (English and Spanish) e-learning curriculum titled, Promoting Healthy Choices and Community Changes designed to encourage changes at the individual and community-level that will help individuals make better choices when it comes to their health.
This #HHM2016, as we celebrate the culture, traditions, and heritage of the Latino community, I invite you to discover OMH resources in English and Español that help advance health equity for the Latino population. Let's honor our commitment to achieving health equity and thank our health care providers, public health professionals, promotores de salud, community health workers, and community- and faith-based organizations who work to educate our communities about their health and health care decisions by lifting up a message of disease prevention and health promotion in a culturally and linguistically appropriate way.
For more information on the HHS Office of Minority Health, visit www.minorityhealth.hhs.gov. For more resources on cultural and linguistic competency, visit Think Cultural Health at www.thinkculturalhealth.hhs.gov.
J. Nadine Gracia, MD, MSCE, is the Former Deputy Assistant Secretary for Minority Health and Director, Office of Minority Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.