| By Jonathan Gramling The volunteer members of the Latino Health Council are on a mission to promote healthy habits and lifestyles within the Latino community. Over the course of nine years, they have been evolving and perfecting their messages -- and the way they communicate them -- in order to reach as many people as possible with accurate and timely information. Its annual health fair has evolved over the past nine years since it held its first health fair in the parking lot of Holy Redeemer Church, which was attended by approximately 50 people. While the church proved to be an excellent venue to reach people after the church's service, there were some health issues like birth control and sexually transmitted diseases (STD) that the council felt it needed to confront, but would not be able to in a church setting. After moving the health fair to the Alliant Energy Center for a two-year stint, the Latino Health Fair was moved to the Labor Temple on S. Park Street August 18 in order to conserve resources. Hundreds of families filtered through the site throughout the afternoon to obtain up-to-date health information. The health fair has two major components, according to Dr. Patricia Tellez-Giron, co-chair of the Latino Health Council. "First, we have the information tables," Tellez-Giron said. "We have about 30 organizations that are represented here today. Every one of them has to provide services for Latinos and services that are bilingual. That's one of the requirements for coming and having a table here. It is amazing how many organizations in the community are really providing those kinds of services. The other component is free health screening. We provide free screening for glucose, cholesterol, blood pressure, weight, urine testing, and HIV testing. We are also providing professional advice. We have doctors and pharmacists here to talk to people about the particulars of their tests so if they have any questions, they are there to provide health education." For the past three years, the health fair has adopted a theme based upon what is going on in the Latino community. Last year, it was traffic safety. This year it was sexual health. "We're seeing an increase in the number of pregnancies among teenagers," Tellez-Giron said. "We're seeing an increase in the number of HIV and other STD cases. So the theme this year is sexual health. We'e talking about HIV and sexually transmitted diseases. We're going to have another talk on birth control." Tellez-Giron has an effective method to transmit the information to the audience. Knowing that hers is an academic and technical orientation as a doctor, Tellez-Giron selected an audience member to "translate" her message into terms that the audience would understand. "I think the message is better understood than if it is just me talking to them," Tellez-Giron emphasized. "It's a way to double-check to make sure the community is getting the message you want them to receive. You also see what's in people's minds. There was one particular lady that was very, very interested in me talking about one particular issue. Probably, she has suffered from that before. She wanted to make sure that people learned about that particular disease. She kept insisting that we talk about it." "I learn a lot from our community," Tellez-Giron continued. "I am someone who is completely open. I'm not an expert. I'm a physician, but I'm not an expert. I learn from my patients. I see what is in their minds and then I can transmit that information to other people." The Latino Health Council has also adopted the radio -- the Spanish language radio station LaMovida -- to reach out to the Latino community on a regular basis. Tellez-Giron appears on LaMovida on a monthly basis to talk about health concerns. "It's two hours long," Tellez-Giron said about the radio show. "We talk about medical terms. We also have information about community services for that particular topic. Then we also allow audience participation. Basically, half the time, we allow people to call in with questions. We want to talk about what is important to people and not what is important for us. So when they call with a question, we can tailor the answer and the information to their needs. You have to reach people any way possible. So if they have to work 2-3 jobs, but they have a radio, you are going to reach them. Through the radio, we are reaching 40-50,000 people because it goes beyond Dane County." Tellez-Giron is reminded almost on a daily basis that they are reaching the Latino community. "When we do the radio program and you listen to the kind of questions people ask, it is just amazing to see," Tellez-Giron said. "When I'm in the street and someone comes over and says 'I know we're here, but I have a question for you. I hear you on the radio and you said this and that. I'm very concerned because I have this and that.' Once I was at the bank and this woman came over and said 'I have this lump in my breast.' I looked at her and said 'Well, we are at the bank. Are you sure you want to talk about this here?' She looked around and said 'Why not?' I said 'If you don't mind, I don't mind either. What do you need?' Right there, I started doing the education. You see the response. I have many patients that if we talk about something on the radio on Monday, all that week, I have questions about that program with my patients. 'I heard you on the radio and you said this and this. I';m concerned I might have this and this.'" The Latino Health Council also regularly submits columns to local newspapers that reach the Latino community and sponsor a chronic disease summit that focuses on diseases like diabetes and cardiovascular disease. The Council recently began a partnership with Planned Parenthood to combat breast and cervical cancer in the Latino community. "We have a grant for almost $500,000 for over three years to do this education with Latinos," Tellez-Giron said. "And I say Latinos because one of the particulars of this program is that we don't only talk to women even though cervical cancer and most breast cancer affect women. But among Latinos, the family is such an influence that we educate every one in the family so that we reach more women. We want the men because the men have a lot to do with the lives of women. We actually train men to check for signs of breast cancer." Tellez-Giron and the rest of the members of the Latino Health Council are focused on the health of the Latino community. What makes them effective is their willingness to continuously try new methods to reach their target audience. Tellez-Giron is never satisfied. "It's not just a matter of us thinking we are doing a good thing," she said about their efforts. "We want to have everything perfect." And the community's health will be the better for it. |
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| Clockwise from upper left: Teresa Tellez-Giron (l-r), Shiva Bidar-Sielaff, health fair co-chair and Brenda Gonzalez; Noemi Mendoza (l-r) and Maria Ramirez-Torrez from the Madison-Dane County Public Health Department; GHC's Emily Curtis and Rocio Garcia-Romo; Barbara McKinney (r) talks to a HospiceCare worker; Sonido Suave performs; Dr. Patricia Tellez-Giron talks about sexual health |