The Idaho Partnership for Hispanic Health will research interventions to reduce health disparities experienced by the Hispanic population, particularly those identified as Mexican American. A community based participatory research (CBPR) approach will meaningfully involve the Hispanic community in all phases of project partnership building, assessment, intervention design and implementation, evaluation, and communication of results. Two community partners - Cenfro de Commun/dad y Justicia and the Idaho Commission on Hispanic Affairs, a research partner - University of Washington's Pacific Northwest Center for Agricultural Safety and Health, and two health care provider partners - Boise State University's La Buena Salud wellness project and Valley Family Health Care's community/migrant health centers, join Mountain States Group in the intervention research work. The project's five components include: 1. Building the partnership foundation and structure. A core partnership team and broader Hispanic community advisory group will ensure that all project work is planned and carried out in partnership with the southern Idaho Hispanic community. 2. Assessment planning and implementation. Interviews and focus groups with southwest Idaho Hispanic persons will collect qualitative and quantitative data on health-related knowledge and behaviors, perception of health care, health concerns and conditions, and barriers to health improvement. 3. Determining disease focus, intervention research planning and implementation. After a thoughtful review of assessment results, existing research and intervention models, the community will prioritize the project's disease focus and work with partners to design intervention strategies that fit local culture and resources. The core partnership team will build a research design around the pilot interventions, which will focus on prevention, screening, improved care and community education. Communication and dissemination. Community partners and local Spanish media will keep the Hispanic community informed of project progress and findings, aided by the creation of an Idaho Commission on Hispanic Affairs Hispanic health information center. 5. Evaluation will examine partnership functioning, community participation, assessment and intervention process, resulting Hispanic health-related outcomes, and community capacity building achieved. Eliminating health disparities is one of two overarching goals of Healthy People 2010, including those experienced by Hispanics, and is also a priority of numerous U.S. Department of Health and Human Services initiatives. The project will contribute to this public health challenge by investigating promising community-driven interventions that address the complex factors underlying Hispanic health disparities. ? ?
