Advocacy Strategies Promoting health in the Latino Community

1
Advocacy Strategies Promoting health in the
Latino Community

• A Community Approach to Health Disparities
  Conference
• Sandra Trinidad
• Alliance for a Better Community
• August 18, 2006

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Alliance for a Better Community

• Focus areas
• Health Housing
• Education Civic Engagement
• Economic Development

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Alliance for a Better Community

• Health Policy Priority areas
• Access to quality healthcare
• Increase opportunities for community engagement
  in health promoting activities
• Increase the pipeline of Latinos in health
  professions

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Latino Coalition for a Healthy California- (LARN)

• Partners
• Latino Coalition for a Healthy California
• Alliance for a Better Community
• Goals
• Engage Latinos at the local level
• Support Latinos to interact with other community
  leaders and elected officials and
• Promote civic engagement

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Los Angeles Regional Network (LARN)

• Membership base of 500 members in the Los Angeles
  region
• LARN members meet on a quarterly basis to
• address locally-defined needs and conditions
• pose local solutions to health issues that
  Latinos face
• increase the communitys knowledge, skills and
  capacity to participate in and contribute to
  policy-making decisions that impact them and
• foster and coordinate statewide responses to
  policies affecting Latino health.

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Los Angeles Regional Network

• Leading organized voice for policies, services,
  and conditions to improve the health of Latinos
• Issues Areas
• Access to Health Care
• Health Disparities
• Community Health
• Three-Strategy Approach
• Community Education
• Research
• Policy Advocacy

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Access to HealthcareCultural Competence

• In California, 40 of its population speaks a
  language besides English
• Less than 4 of physicians in California are
  Latino and only 5 of the states medical
  residents were Latino in 2000.
• While the population-to-physician ratio is 3351,
  the Latino population-to-physician is almost
  30001

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Latino Physicians

• Latinos accounted for 14 of first year medical
  school students
• Latino physicians are two to three times more
  likely to practice in underserved areas, such as
  migrant health centers and free county safety net
  clinics, than their non-Latino white counterparts

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ABC and the Latino Scorecard 2006
A concerted effort that aims to address issues
impacting the quality of life for Latinos living
in Los Angeles. Partnership between ABC and the
United Way to provide framework for policy
advocacy strategies

• Priority areas
• Ensure that L.A. County Schools provide better
  
• nutrition and physical education programs
• Increase health education and awareness to
  prevent onset of chronic diseases
• Increase access to physical activity

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Community Health and our Public Schools Student
Wellness Policies

• Drafting of policy that fortifies the quality of
  nutrition our students receive and partnering
  that with health education
• Increase the amount of health education provided
  for parents and students
• Promoting physical activity through joint use and
  access to recreational facilities that already
  exist within the community

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Healthy Community Collaborative

• Priorities
• Work with local HS campuses Belmont HS and
  Central HS 10 to enhance the implementation of
  LAUSD Student Wellness policies through strategic
  partnerships to increase opportunities for
  physical activity and access to health education
• Enhance approaches that promote public safety
  within the community to encourage outdoor
  physical activity through joint use of
  neighborhood school campuses
• Increase opportunities that provide access to
  wholesome food options in the Pico-Union
  community and local school campuses

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On the Horizon

• By the year 2020, Latinos will be a part of more
  than 50 of the working-age labor force
• Investing in Latino health and communities of
  color will strengthen the social and economic
  fabric and viability of California within the
  global economies