Developing a Latino health agenda through a community-based
participatory process: the experience of the Latino Health
Initiative of Montgomery County, Maryland Montgomery County
Department of Health and Human Services Presented by Graciela
Jaschek, MPH Developed by: Graciela Jaschek, MPH; Sonia Mora, BS;
Olivia Carter-Pokras, PhD; Henry Montes, MPH; Adolfo Firpo, MD,
MPA, FCAP; Maria Botello-Harbaum, Ed.D, MS; Cesar Palacios, MD,
MPH; Eduardo Pezo, MHP Slide 2 Presenter Disclosures (1) The
following personal financial relationships with commercial
interests relevant to this presentation existed during the past 12
months: Graciela Jaschek NO Slide 3 Montgomery County, Maryland
Rapidly changing County: Latino pop. grew by 350% during 1980-2005
Diverse County: 45% of the County population are minorities (14%
Latinos) Slide 4 Latino Health Initiative Created in 2000 to
improve the quality of life of Latinos living in Montgomery County
Supported by the Latino Health Steering Committee Slide 5 Blueprint
for Latino Health Originally published in 2002, was updated in 2006
Includes socio-demographic and health data on Latinos Defines
priority areas to improve the health of Latinos in the County
Provides policy recommendations Slide 6 Blueprint Update: A
Community-Based Participatory Process DEVELOPMENT OF 2008 - 2012
BLUEPRINT I. Assessment What is the current landscape compared to 5
years ago? Quantitative Data Socio - Demographic Health II.
Analysis What do the changes mean? III. Review & Development of
Recommendations per Priority Area Setting future directions Ad- Hoc
Blueprint Committee Meetings Latino Health Steering Committee
Meetings Stakeholders Meeting in English Stakeholders Meeting in
Spanish Participatory Community Planning Process V. Dissemination
Spreading the word and engaging stakeholders IV. Release of
Blueprint Qualitative Data Focus Groups Expert Interviews Key
Stakeholders Interviews Latino Data Workgroup June 06 May 07 Jan.
07 May 07 June 07 Sept. 07 June 2008 Slide 7 Purpose of the
Blueprint Blueprint is an instrument to: Guide our actions to
improve the health of Latinos Inform and engage policy and decision
makers Engage and mobilize the Latino community Move forward the
Latino health agenda Slide 8 Three Essential Elements
Administrative support and resources Latino Health Initiative
Technical assistance and guidance Latino Health Steering Committee
Leaders and advocates Latino Health Steering Committee, Community
Slide 9 Blueprint Implementation Program alignment to Blueprint
Dissemination plan Community engagement and mobilization Monitoring
and evaluation Slide 10 Lessons Learned Development of a health
agenda needs careful planning Every opinion, comment and suggestion
needs serious consideration Participatory process helps inform,
educate & engage participants Engaging stakeholders from
different sectors highlights need to examine health in broad
context Mobilizing community is essential for policy change Slide
11 Contact Information Graciela Jaschek, MPH
[email protected] Website www.lhiinfo.org
