Health program geared to Latino community

Northwest Community Hospital in Arlington Heights is offering a free health education program called “Promotoras de Salud” to reach out to the Latino community with important health and social services information in Spanish.

Promotoras de Salud is a nationally recognized model for engaging the Latino community in disease prevention, health promotion and community building. Small-group presentations are conducted three or four times each month at a variety of neighborhood locations, where Spanish-speaking residents gain valuable health care knowledge from a Promotora, or ambassador of Northwest Community Hospital.

“The program is successful because the Promotoras are native speakers who work within their own communities and share the same values, culture and life experiences as the people they are educating,” said Karen Baker, director of Community Services at NCH. “All of the Promotoras have received leadership and development training as well as specific instruction on health matters that are prevalent in the Latino community.”

The health topics covered in the Promotoras program are diabetes education, well-child development and domestic violence awareness. Each class typically attracts up to 20 participants.

For more information, call (847) 776-9500, ext. 0, or (847) 506-4930.