The Center for Cross Cultural Community Health is part of the TIHH devoted to provide culturally and linguistically appropriate educating to lay health educators (Promotoras) and provide health services to Hispanics.

The Research

Among all ethnic/racial groups (African-Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans, Asians, etc.), Mexican-Americans have been the most disenfranchised from America's exemplary system of health care. Research shows that Mexican-Americans experience the lowest access to medical care of any group in Texas and America. They're also two and a half times more likely to be uninsured than all other minority populations.

The Pew Hispanic Center at the University of Southern California warns that Hispanics are also being hit hard by the economic recession and will take longer to recover than other groups because they are heavily employeed in hard-hit sectors, such as food service, transportation, and hospitality. Analysts foresee especially high unemployment and strains on social services in the eight states (including Texas) where 35 million Hispanics are concentrated. Tarrant County, the third-largest county in Texas, has the fastest-growing Hispanic population in the state.

Providing Hispanic adults and children with the tools and services they need to increase the quality, productivity and length of their lives will reap enormous economic, social and cultural benefits for all.

The Goal

The Center for Cross-Cultural and Community Health set the following goals for the first three years of activity. Reaching these milestones will reflect the dedicated support of the Sid. W. Richardson Foundation.

• At least 100 new promotoras for Tarrant County will be recruited and trained.
• At least 1,350 area Hispanics will receive information on specific health risks and prevention strategies.
• At least 900 area Hispanics will participate in charla group discussions (volunteer-led) on health topics important to a particular community
• At least 825 area Hispanics will sign the "Family Pact" (a commitment to modify risk behaviors), implement action plans and be followed up.
• At least 450 area Hispanics will be screened for health risks.
• At least 150 area Hispanics will be closely followed up to increase access to, and compliance with, medical care.

Through our other community activities:

• At least 30,000 Hispanic adults and children will be screened at our annual Hispanic Wellness Fairs.
• At least 6,000 Hispanics will receive information on specific health risks and prevention strategies.
• At least 200 Hispanics will receive healthy cooking demonstrations.
• At least 100 Hispanic employees of the UNT Health Science Center will attend wellness workshops or seminars.
• Both the Fort Worth ISD and the Dallas ISD will collaborate in new risk-screening programs for elementary
  schoolchildren.

To track our success in all endeavors, we'll measure outcomes including, but not limited to:

• Increased awareness and knowledge of targeted health risks. OUR PLAN

With the support of the Sid W. Richardson Foundation

* We will capitalize on our responsibilities as one of the National Institutes of Health first six Cardiovascular Intervention Centers

We will expand our focus beyond heart disease and hypertension to include equally comprehensive community services in the following: diabetes, obesity, high cholesterol, tuberculosis, and disease vaccinations. In addition, pap smears and other early diagnostic tests for women will be provided.

* We will train more promotoras

Spanish-speaking lay health educators who go into homes, churches and community centers to teach individuals and families how to prevent and control disease.

Our first four-day, intensive training session in December of 2001 graduated 18 promotoras .  We have the potential to develop into a statewide or national center for promotora training.

* We will recruit more organizations and agencies in North Texas to collaboratively reach more Latinos who need health and educational services.

Current partners include: City of Fort Worth Public Health Department, Tarrant County Public Health Department, Diamond Hill Community Health Center, Harris Methodist Hospital, Parkland Health and Hospital System, the Senior Citizen Center of Tarrant County, Church Health Ministries, the Dallas Concilio of Hispanic-Serving Organizations, the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration

Regional Office in Dallas, City of Irving Public Health & Environmental Services and the Texas Medical Foundation.

Future partners being recruited include: the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Fort Worth, Calumet Community Center of Dallas, City of Dallas Health Department, the Cooper Clinic in Dallas, the Hispanic North Side Neighborhood Council, International Consulting Solutions, North Side Inter-Church Agency, Project Path (a collaboration with Dallas ISD ninth-graders and UNT-Denton), St. Joseph's Health Care Trust, the Texas Cooperative Extension, Wesley Community Center and the YWCA.

* We will expand our groundbreaking work with the Fort Worth ISD, clinics and community groups to combat obesity and diabetes in school-aged children, particularly Hispanics.

In March of 2000 we screened more than 1,000 Fort Worth fifth-graders for type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and obesity; identifying almost 300 who were at risk, and prompting changes in FWISD food services and health/physical education procedures. We're currently seeking funds from Bristol Meyers to further test these identified at-risk children and prove the value of targeted interventions.

Further funding will enable us to provide targeted education and guidance to these children and their families, as well as to teachers, school nurses and family physicians. We also hope to conduct more rounds of screenings and follow-ups in both Fort Worth and Dallas.

* We will expand our agenda of school presentations.

These visits not only teach Hispanic children healthy behaviors and choices (which they can in turn teach to their families), but also use our faculty as role models  who encourage the youngsters to love science and medicine, which in turn will influence more of them to consider careers in health care.

* We will provide record numbers of screenings and immunizations at annual Hispanic Wellness Fairs.

We began organizing annual Hispanic Wellness Fairs after a 1998 City of Fort Worth survey indicated that health fairs were often the only source of health care for Hispanics.

Our 1999 Fair attracted 75 providers and 1,000 participants. In 2000, we drew more than 4,000 participants. In 2001, more than 120 providers cared for more than 6,000 adults and children, identifying several possible cancers and other threatening conditions.

Private funding is essential to continuing and expanding these extremely effective methods of providing health screening and health education to a large number of Tarrant County's families who have little or no access to medical services throughout the year.