2:00 PM | Promotores de Salud: A Vehicle to Dismantle Oppression in the Latinx Community

 Wednesday, July 28 at 2:00 PM-3:15 PM  

Promotores de salud (community health workers) are trusted members of their communities. They can serve as role models or educators, provide social support, and empower others to identify their own needs and implement their own solutions. A promotores model is a bottom-up approach to health promotion, consistent with the shift in focus to “root causes” of diseases by focusing on the social determinants of health. The goal of this workshop is to engage and equip participants with the knowledge to identify sources of systemic oppression in the Latinx community and consider promotores de saludas one strategy for dismantling that oppression. We will begin with an overview of the inequities the Latinx population in the U.S. faces, as rooted in systems of oppression. We will explain how these disparities are exacerbated within emerging communities, areas where Latinx are a small but rapidly growing segment of the population, using Allegheny County as an example. Next, we will provide a history and description of promotores de salud, presenting this model as an evidence-based way to address inequities and dismantle oppression among Latinx. We will finish by describing examples from our own local community-engaged research, and how we apply the promotores model to empower community members and deliver community-based interventions to promote health equity.

Presenters

Dr. Patricia Documet Dr. Patricia Documet is Associate Professor of Behavioral and Community Health Sciences at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health and serves as Director of Latinx Research and Outreach at the Center for Health Equity. Originally trained as a pediatrician, she has 23 years of experience working with Latinx populations, including evaluation, mixed methods, and participatory studies with community health workers. Most of her research has been with Spanish speakers. She is extensively involved with the local Latino community, serving currently as Board President for Casa San Jose, a welcome center for Latinx.

Dr. Sharon Ross Dr. Sharon Ross is an Assistant Professor of Health and Human Development in the School of Education at the University of Pittsburgh. Dr. Ross received her Ph.D. in Biobehavioral Health from the Pennsylvania State University and completed a post-doc in the Children’s Physical Activity Research Group at the University of South Carolina. Dr. Ross has expertise in obesity prevention and physical activity promotion in children, working primarily with Spanish-speaking families. Her research focuses on promoting healthy lifestyles in Latinx children and their families through culturally-tailored, home-and community-based interventions delivered by trained community health workers (promotores).

If you require an accommodation to participate in this event, please contact the Office for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion at diversity@pitt.edu by July 21