Familias Joins Statewide Collaboration to Reduce Risk of Chronic Diseases!
The Nutrition and Food Equity Program participated in a three-day retreat, in October, to discuss program strategies to reduce the risk of chronic diseases, such as diabetes, hypertension, heart disease and obesity. The retreat was sponsored by the Nutrition Oregon Campaign (NOC), which is part of the OHSU Bob and Charlee Moore Institute for Nutrition & Wellness, whose purpose is to end chronic disease before it starts.
Since 1990, diabetes rates have tripled, especially among people of color and rural populations. 70% of people with diabetes will eventually get heart disease. This is an epidemic that we can stop! The NOC statewide campaign is driven by communities and grounded in the science of Developmental Origins of Health & Disease. This science shows us how risk for developing chronic diseases like obesity, diabetes and heart disease are established before birth and in the first years of life based on nutrition and exposure to toxic stresses like poverty, racism and abuse.
Familias worked with the Moore Institute and in 2018, developed a culturally specific curriculum to share with our Latiné families called Abuela, Mama y Yo (AMY) to address this issue. We offer this class, as well as Walk with Ease and other exercise, gardening and cooking classes to share ideas about healthy lifestyles and accessing more fruits and vegetables. The program also includes information on advocacy and accessing government programs such as SNAP and WIC.
The purpose of the retreat was to connect with the statewide HUBS and share our programs with the Latiné they serve from Yamhill County, Douglas County, Klamath County and the Western Treasure Valley area near Ontario, Oregon and Payette, Idaho. Familias has a three-year, $299,000 grant from the Ford Family Foundation to serve rural areas with our Nutrition and Food Equity Program.
One of our goals has been to build capacity and economic stability for Promotores de Salud/Community Health Workers in Oregon. We are proud to announce that our first cohort in Somos Salud – Familias’ culturally-specific, Spanish language CHW Training & Certification Program – was a huge success.
We had a total of 24 graduates with participants from 8 organizations across Multnomah, Clackamas, Washington, and Marion County.
In addition to offering the 90-hour training, we hope to provide continuing education opportunities for Promotores to maintain their certification, as well as one-on-one support for Promotores who need assistance with the application and renewal process.
Our next cohort starts on June 13-August 2, 8:30am-4pm. It will be held in-personand in Spanish.
**Familias adopted the term Latiné to describe our communities in an inclusive manner. We recognize that there is no single term that will encompass everyone.**
In April 2020, Familias en Acción (Familias) created its HIV/ STI Sexual Health Program. The program is part of Oregon Health Authority’s END HIV Oregon strategy. In Oregon, HIV cases have increased in urban, rural and frontier areas across the state (see the “Why HIV prevention” section below to see the stats).
The increase in new infections in our communities can be attributed, in part, to the complexity of this issue. Acknowledging this complexity points our efforts to a range of interconnected tactics, each equally critical to eliminating HIV in Oregon’s Latiné populations. For example, we must consider: the influence of socio economic factors; stalled prevention efforts and the need to increase accessibility to prevention, screening, and treatment; how behavior influences risk; stigma and its implications; and how community leadership can be developed.
We know we can’t end HIV alone. Community participation is essential in formulating a more effective strategy to combat HIV in Oregon and long-term community engagement is critical to sustaining the involvement of communities in the design and delivery of the strategy.
Why HIV Prevention?
Although testing is low, new HIV diagnoses are high among Latine people in Oregon, particularly males. Here are some current statistics:
Although 12.7% of Oregon’s population is Latine, 24.6% of HIV cases diagnosed between 2018-2022 were Latiné – in other words, 1 in 4 people diagnosed with HIV in recent years were Latine.
Rates of new HIV diagnosis among Latine people increased by more than 50% in 2022 compared to the previous 3 years.
Increases of HIV diagnosis among Latine people increased in urban, rural, and frontier areas of Oregon – with the largest increases in rural and frontier areas.
Rates of new HIV diagnosis are more than 10 times higher among Latine males than Latine females.
We can change these trends- prevention works!
PrEP, taken as a daily pill or periodic injection, is 99% effective in preventing HIV transmission. People living with HIV, who take HIV medication and reach undetectable viral loads have zero chance of transmitting HIV to their sex partners (this is called U=U or Undetectable = Untransmittable). The Oregon Health Plan and most health insurance plans cover these medicines to prevent and treat HIV; the Healthier Oregon Program provides coverage to many people living in Oregon who do not have documentation. Programs like CAREAssist and HIV case management help people in all Oregon communities start and stay on medications, so they can live longer, healthier lives.
Community-based messages and programs, delivered by people and agencies trusted by Latine community members, are urgently needed. We can end new HIV transmissions in Oregon!
We are excited to launch our first quarter of learning and engagement activities on February 14th! For our first quarter, our theme and topics will focus on addressing HIV and STI stigma.
Have you ever thought about how HIV and STI stigma can impact both mental health and sexual health outcomes? Or how factors like race, ethnicity and culture can contribute to or influence stigma?
Stigma often comes from a lack of understanding or fear driven by misleading or inaccurate information. We will explore how stigma shows up in our everyday lives, the lives of our peers, our families and our friends. We will share stories and ideas for way’s to destigmatize, including using people first language where we center the person and not their illness, behavior, or disability, etc.
What do we hope to achieve?
A greater awareness of unique issues and needs among Latiné communities to address HIV prevention, screening, and treatment in regions across Oregon.
Deeper connections and relationships amongst each other to support potential, future collaboration.
What do we hope you learn?
Define taboo and stigma
Identify the negative impacts of stigma on mental, emotional, physical health.
Provide examples of myths or misconceptions that contribute to stigma
Translate foundational learning to lived experience
Discuss how to address and decrease individual and cultural stigmas around taboo topics including sexual health, HIV, substance use, mental health, etc.
Details: Latine and HIV Collaborative Virtual Learning Series on HIV Stigma
Description: Join our panel of guest presenters to learn more about cultural Stigmas and its impacts on mental, emotional and physical health and wellbeing and hear from other community leaders across the state. This session will include an opportunity for audience participation!
Meet our guest speakers
Amador Perez (HE/HIM/HIS)
Harm Reduction Specialist
Eastern Oregon Center for Independent Living
Richard Rojas-Perez (HE/HIM/HIS)
Assistant Director of HIV Prevention and Harm Reduction
Eastern Oregon Center for Independent Living
**Language access: This session will be facilitated in English with Spanish interpretation available. Breakout sessions will be facilitated in both English and Spanish- all are welcome!**
Keep an eye out for our February newsletter and check back on our website where we will share more about the upcoming events in this 3-part series:
March 2024: Community Stories: Stories of how stigma “shows up” in our lives as Latine Community Members
April 2024: Community Conversation: How do we address stigma as Latine community members?
Familias en Acción is committed to continue to provide opportunities for shared learning around HIV prevention. We invite individuals and organizations in Oregon to participate and share ideas for doing this work collectively. Stay tuned to learn of upcoming learning events and opportunities to stay engaged: Sign up for our monthly newsletter!
Do you have questions or want to see how you can participate? Contact Ayla Rosen (ayla@familiasenaccion.org)
This is our 1st of 3 activities in our 3-part learning series on HIV stigma. Everyone is invited to participate and learn as we center Latine community voices and experiences.
Ayla Rosen, MPH and Ingrid Lopez, CHW will be presenting a session on Latine and HIV/STI Community Education and Prevention at this year’s Western Forum in Seattle, WA.
Registration is open for Familias’ sexual health education community classes, Me Cuido, Te Cuido. Classes are virtual, in Spanish and offered to community members across Oregon
To support our learning journey, we are focused on eliminating gaps in service utilization by connecting people to resources for prevention, care, and treatment. Listed here are links to a curated excellent resources:
The purpose of this ECHO is to build the capacity of health systems and community-based organizations to incorporate support for CHWs into programs as valuable assets in prevention and management of diabetes and hypertension in the community.
Wednesdays, noon – 1 p.m. PST, April 6 – June 22, 2022
Primary care clinicians and teams are cordially invited to participate in the Diabetes Care for Whole-Person Health ECHO program, sponsored as part of the HRSA Telehealth Technology-Enabled Learning Program (TTELP) in order to improve rural health outcomes.
The purpose of this 12-session ECHO program is to enhance the ability of primary care clinicians and healthcare team members to effectively manage diabetes and its complications.
Wednesdays, 7:30 a.m – 8:30 a.m. PST, April 13 – June 29, 2022
For more information about this program and to register, visit link.
The Omicron variant likely will spread more easily than the original SARS-CoV-2 virus and how easily Omicron spreads compared to Delta remains unknown. CDC expects that anyone with Omicron infection can spread the virus to others, even if they are vaccinated or don’t have symptoms.
Will Omicron cause more severe illness?
More data is needed to know if Omicron infections, and especially reinfections and breakthrough infections in people who are fully vaccinated, cause more severe illness or death than infection with other variants.
Tools to Fight Omicron
Vaccines remain the best public health measure to protect people from COVID-19, slow transmission, and reduce the likelihood of new variants emerging.
Masksoffer protection against all variants. CDC continues to recommend wearing a mask in public indoor settings in areas of substantial or high community transmission, regardless of vaccination status.
Testscan tell you if you are currently infected with COVID-19. Two types of tests are used to test for current infection: nucleic acid amplification tests (NAATs) and antigen tests. NAAT and antigen tests can only tell you if you have a current infection.
Self-tests can be used at home or anywhere, are easy to use, and produce rapid results. If your self-test has a positive result, stay home or isolate for 10 days, wear a mask if you have contact with others, and call your healthcare provider.
El Programa Nacional de Prevención de la Diabetes Tipo 2 es un programa de cambio de estilo de vida de un año reconocido a nivel nacional. El curso sera impartido en linea (virtual). Aun estamos aceptando nuevos participantes. Para mas informacion, favor de contactar a las promotoras de salud mencionadas en el flyer.
April 20th marked our one year anniversary for our program Me Cuido, Te Cuido!
We have begun training facilitators in Washington County and are thankful for their excitement to start community classes on sexual health. We are also moving forward with training facilitators statewide to include Latinx communities outside of Washington County.
If your organization is interested in our Me Cuido, Te Cuido training please visit our program website below.
Have you registered for our 2021 Latino Health Equity Conference?
Our virtual bilingual conference is coming up on June 24th and 25th. We are also excited to announce our keynote speakers for this year! Our keynotes will focus on the intersection of HIV and COVID-19, the importance of including the transgender community in conversations about HIV, and normalizing conversations on sexual health in our faith communities.
Register now and take advantage of our early bird benefits, more information on our conference site below!
“The greatness of a community is most accurately measured by the compassionate actions of its members”-Coretta Scott King
Our community Health Workers program has been able to continue serving and supporting our Washington and Multnomah communities based on a deep understanding of the community’s culture, language, beliefs, and priorities. As members of the community, the CHW’s have the ability to relate to our clients based on shared life experiences. This bond enables them to identify the difficulties and challenges our communities are facing during this pandemic. Their trusting connection helps the CHW team to serve as an intermediary between the many barriers and obstacles our communities may have.
Our team makes every effort to find the right resource and provide the support for our family’s needs. We are still providing wraparound services for those who have been recently tested positive for COVID-19, volunteering in COVID-19 vaccination sites as bilingual interpreters, and helping our community scheduling a vaccine appointment according to their nearest living area.
As a quick reminder… don’t forget to take care of yourself and others. Take the appropriate COVID-19 precautions. For more information please click below.
