INTRODUCTION
La Familia Sana is a Mexican-American health education and promotion program located in Hood River, Oregon. The program utilizes Mexican-American Community Health Promoters recruited from the local farm worker community and intensively trained to provide mental and physical health education and promotion in farm worker communities of the Mid-Columbia region of Oregon and Washington. The Community Health Promoters utilize an interactive methodology called "Popular Education" to communicate health information. Their messages are developed through the integration of current medical practices with Mexican-American cultural values and specific health beliefs. La Familia Sana has been operating as a health promoter program for ten years.
WORKSHOPS
Under a contract with Oregon Health Sciences University and its Health Education Training Center, La Familia Sana offers cultural competency workshops on health related beliefs of Mexican-Americans in Oregon and Washington. These workshops are given to medical, nursing, and pharmacy students at OHSU and to many agencies and community groups serving the Hispanic community.
Mexican-Americans, like all people, have expectations and assumptions that influence their relationship with, and understanding of, the health care community and it's services. How the health care worker addresses these expectations and assumptions can have a dramatic effect on a patient's compliance with the recommended plan of care. Understanding the cultural values and health beliefs of Mexican- American clients/patients can increase bilateral understanding and provide more effective care, health education and counsel. It can also have a positive effect on the bottom line.
La Familia Sana offers classes year-round. Workshops can be tailored to your organization's particular needs and can be conducted at your site. The following health related themes are suggested. Others could be developed.
CONSULTING
Professional Hispanic cultural consulting is available for problematic health related issues that affect agencies and their Hispanic clients. Examples would include client/patient conflicts with staff or agency, development of educational programs or materials, bill collection, project development, and collection of data through individual or focus group interviews.
EXPERIENCE
La Familia Sana has been providing cultural competency consulting and workshops on these and other topics through the OHSU Health Education Training Center and the Columbia Willamette Area Health Education Center, as well as through the Oregon Health Sciences University Nursing, Medical and Psychiatry schools for over five years. References are available.
COSTS
Most workshops are free, thanks to our contract with Oregon Health Sciences University. If your agency does not qualify for one of these free HETC workshops, La Familia Sana charges $450 to $650 per workshop depending on the length of the workshop, and travel time. Typically, workshops last from 2 to 4 hours, with two of our staff presenting information. Please contact us if you have questions about the workshops.