这项程序 create a bridge between healthier living and a growing Hispanic 人口

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帕特里夏·格瓦拉喜欢和她5岁的女儿一起做事, 米兰达, 尤其是画画和偶尔在公园散步.

以促销者的名字命名, 或者社区卫生工作者, 顺道拜访了他们在匹兹堡地区的家, 他们的生活变得更加活跃.

Guevara signed up for a promotora-led program for Latino preschoolers and their families. 通过家庭试点项目, University of Pittsburgh researchers sought to study how community health workers affected physical activity among Latino families with young children.

"I thought it was great because we made a commitment to be physically active at least five days a week,格瓦拉说, 七年前从委内瑞拉搬到宾夕法尼亚的人.

这项程序, 这是西班牙语对社区卫生工作者的中性称呼, work as liaisons between communities and public health and social services to narrow gaps in health equity. The promotores typically share language and ethnicity with the people with whom they work. Their role is to raise awareness and teach participants how to access health services and other programs.

“我们看起来像他们, 我们像他们一样说话，我们是他们社区的一部分,梅赛德斯·克鲁兹-鲁伊斯说, a longtime promotora who trains community health workers through her organization in Fort Worth, 德州. “我们在社区中建立长期关系."

Community health workers have long disseminated basic health education in various countries. 在中国, early promoters of preventive health were trained farmworkers doing outreach in agricultural fields in the 1950s and 1960s. 这个概念在全球传播, 到了70年代, it became part of efforts to reach rural and low-income communities in the United States.

Spanish-speaking promotores have become essential in Latino communities – one of the fastest-growing 人口s in the U.S. -近年来. A 2015年疾病控制和预防中心报告 found that Hispanic people had disproportionately higher death rates from some health conditions, 包括糖尿病, and a higher prevalence of obesity and uncontrolled high blood pressure – all of which can contribute to heart disease. 西班牙裔人口占美国人口的近20%.S. 人口, 但在所有种族或族裔群体中，他们的未参保率也是最高的, 人口普查数据显示.

这项程序 receive specialized training in health education and typically work under the guidance of nonprofits, 医疗保健中心和其他组织, 很多是志愿者. 联邦政策也通过拨款的方式资助推动者的工作, 国家项目, 医疗补助和其他社会服务项目.

在匹兹堡, 大学, local government and community groups use promotores to help the area's Hispanic 人口. 在阿勒格尼县，有3万多名西班牙裔居民.占人口的5% 人口普查数据 显示. 他们中的许多人住在匹兹堡, 那里的西班牙裔社区从近7个,从2010年的1000人增加到10人以上,000 by 2021. Pennsylvania's Hispanic 人口 is the state's third-largest racial or ethnic group, at about 8%. 到2020年，这一数字将超过100万，比2010年增长约45%.

Dr. 帕特丽夏Documet, an associate professor in behavioral and community health sciences at the University of Pittsburgh's School of Public Health, said the city's growing Latino 人口 includes a mix of people with roots in various Spanish-speaking countries. Documet, 来自秘鲁的儿科医生, 上世纪90年代她刚到匹兹堡时说过这句话, 缺乏针对西班牙裔居民的项目, but local government and community organizations have slowly begun to address their needs.

Much of her current research focuses on the impact of social support on the health of Latino people and of community health workers promoting access to health care services, 家庭健康饮食和锻炼. 她在Salud的拉丁裔参与小组工作, a coalition of community groups working with promotores and other Latino people on community-focused initiatives, 如 De la Mano con la Salud (帮助健康). The project trained male promotores to help connect Latino immigrant men with health and social services.

“推动者帮助参与者实现自己的目标，”Documet说. 这比告诉人们该做什么更有效."

在德克萨斯州, 那里大约40%的人口是西班牙裔, 克鲁兹-鲁伊斯想成为一名推广员的愿望源于她自己的经历. 她是小中风的幸存者，她的父母都有心脏病. 44岁时，她的父亲死于心脏病发作. 克鲁兹-鲁伊斯知道她的风险很高，所以她了解了心脏病. 她相信分享这些知识可以帮助其他人预防慢性疾病.

晋升人员的线上电子游戏飞禽走兽长短和培训情况各不相同, 这取决于他们了解到的健康问题, Cruz-Ruiz说. 一旦完成, 他们到社区里给人们量血压, 告诉他们如何服药, provide a ride to a doctor's appointment or share information on programs for healthier living.

"If we can do prevention ahead of time, we can slow down chronic disease,她说. “医护人员可能有10分钟的线上电子游戏飞禽走兽和一个人交谈, 但是一个社区卫生工作者, 我们可以和他们聊上一个小时，解释他们身体里到底发生了什么."

格瓦拉说 she and 米兰达 liked the frequent interaction in their own home with a promotora who spoke Spanish. “促销员第一天来我们家, 她给我们带来了一个盒子，里面有指南和体育活动的游戏,她说.

The promotora has helped them stick to their commitment to be more active for the past two years, 格瓦拉说.

"My daughter learned that exercise is necessary and helps us stay healthy and have better energy to be active,她说. “直到今天，我女儿仍然要求进行体育锻炼."