Promotoras Exchanges and Conferences
Promotoras/es Exchanges and Conferences (Watch Video)
HIA currently has a binational exchange program for promotora/es to build their knowledge of health care systems in both the United States and Mexico and to develop skills in providing culturally competent care.
Promotora/es from California travel to Mexico to visit promotoras/es training sites and meet with their Mexican counterparts to discuss migrant health issues, available resources, and program implementation issues. They also participate in field visits with their Mexican peers to experience firsthand the context in which they operate and their service communities live.
Mexican promotoras/es have a comparable experience in California, where HIA and partner organizations host them and facilitate their exchange experiences. The promotoras/es are exposed to the social, cultural, and political environment in which Mexican migrants live and the ways in which their life circumstances affect personal decisions to seek health care, access existing health services, and comply with medical treatments.
On January 18, 2008, over 200 promotoras representing 93 agencies came together from various locations in the U.S. and Mexico at the University of California, Berkeley campus to participate in the Binational Promotoras Conference. The purpose of the conference was to share best practices and strategies implemented by the diverse network of promotoras in Mexico and in the United States, working towards the developing of a binational promotoras model.
The two main objectives of the conference were to 1) increase participants’ knowledge of the health care systems in Mexico and the United States; as well as the social and cultural factors that impact migrant’s health, and 2) increase participants’ awareness of challenges faced by migrants in California that influence their health; in the topics of mental health, occupational health and safety, women’s sexual and reproductive health, and human development.
A full-day’s agenda allowed for guest speakers from both countries to cover a range of relevant topics through interactive presentations and dynamic participatory activities.
The Mexican participants came as a part of the week-long Promotoras Exchange program, and had spent the week leading up to the conference in either Monterey County, Tulare County, or the San Francisco Bay Area meeting with their Californian counterparts and learning about the specific needs and obstacles faced by mobile populations and the resulting implications on health-seeking behavior, health-status, and risk perception.
Binational Promotoras Conference and Exchange Media Alert
View Photographs from the 2008 Binational Promotoras Conference.
Presentations from the 2008 Binantional Promotoras Conference.
Binational Health Week
This year, the Ninth BHW will take place October 3-15, 2009 in 40 states in the U.S. and 3 provinces in Canada, with the participation of the consular networks of Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. Additionally, during BHW five national campaigns will be implemented to promote awareness among the underserved Latino community on H1N1 Influenza, Prevention of Addictions, Nutrition, Prevention of Strokes, and Living Green.
More information about BHW events