New Program Advances Bilingual Diabetes Education on the U.S.-Mexico Border

Newswise — EL PASO, Texas — The Power of Promotores Project will bring much-needed bilingual diabetes information and education to the U.S.-Mexico border with the support of a $25,000 grant from the AstraZeneca Accelerating Change Together (ACT) on Health Equity: Community Solutions Challenge.

Jessica A. Chacon, Ph.D., assistant professor of immunology and microbiology at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso’s Foster School of Medicine, is leading the effort.

Over the past year, Dr. Chacon’s El Paso-Health Education and Awareness Team (EP-HEAT) conducted surveys to identify health education topics the community was interested in. Diabetes was a key topic the border community wanted more information about; specifically, diabetes prevention and healthy living.

“By providing bilingual diabetes information and education, we can tear down the barrier between the community and health care professionals, allowing community members to ask questions about healthy living and diabetes openly,” said Dr. Chacon, noting that the program will focus on residents in the 79905 ZIP code, home to TTUHSC El Paso’s campus. Located in the heart of the city, 79905 has historically been one of the most underserved neighborhoods in the U.S., but programs like this are making transformational changes alongside residents.

The promotores project is a collaborative effort between TTUHSC El Paso’s faculty, staff and students from the Foster School of Medicine and Francis Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences. Dr. Chacon serves as program director and principal investigator on the grant.

Promotores are community health workers trained to deliver bilingual, culturally competent health education within their communities. Promotores serve as trusted liaisons between the community and health care providers, and will be instrumental in providing resources, in both English and Spanish, tailored for individuals with diabetes and those at risk for developing diabetes.

Diabetes is a leading cause of death in the United States. In 2020, Healthy Paso Del Norte reported that in El Paso, where nearly 82% of the population is Hispanic or Latino, 16.9% were diagnosed with diabetes. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health, Hispanics were 1.3 times more likely than non-Hispanic whites to die from diabetes in 2018, and Hispanic adults are 70 percent more likely than non-Hispanic white adults to be diagnosed with diabetes.

TTUHSC El Paso’s promotores help train the university’s students to communicate effectively and form relationships with the primarily Hispanic community they’ll serve. With a high rate of diabetes in the community, bilingual health care education is key to reducing the number of cases.

“It’s crucial our community works together to reduce health disparities like diabetes, especially at training institutions such as TTUHSC El Paso, where our students can collaborate with promotores to provide resources to our Borderplex community,” Dr. Chacon said.

The Power of Promotores Project team recently developed and produced a bilingual children’s activity book focused on diabetes. The promotores helped translate the text from English to Spanish.

“We’re very fortunate to receive this competitive grant sponsored by AstraZeneca to continue developing and providing resources to our underserved border community,” Dr. Chacon said.

AstraZeneca’s ACT on Health Equity: Community Solutions Challenge supports community-based, nonprofit organizations advancing health equity among underserved U.S. communities through innovative health, well-being and STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) programs.

About TTUHSC El Paso

TTUHSC El Paso is the only health sciences center on the U.S.-Mexico border and serves 108 counties in West Texas that have been historically underserved. It’s a designated Title V Hispanic-Serving Institution, preparing the next generation of health care heroes, 48% of whom identify as Hispanic and are often first-generation college students.

TTUHSC El Paso was established to focus on the unique health care and educational needs of our Borderplex community. In 2023, TTUHSC El Paso will celebrate its 10th anniversary as an autonomous university within the Texas Tech University System. In those 10 years, the university has graduated nearly 2,000 doctors, nurses and researchers, and will soon add dentists to its alumni.