Education

Healthier Together Oregon + Acción Climatica

As the effects of climate change advance each year, putting Latino/x/e and other vulnerable communities at greater risk of poor health, Familias en Acción continues to prioritize efforts around climate change to support our comunidad.

Over the past year, Familias has continued developing a Promotora de Salud/Community Health Worker (PDS/CHW) climate action curriculum. The Acción Climática team is working alongside the Community Council to inform the curriculum and ensure it is meeting community members where they are at. Our vision is for our communities to thrive and enjoy health, social, and economic well-being in the places we work, play, pray, and commune. This vision includes working with PDS/CHW to strengthen families’ health and resilience from the impacts of climate change; promoting and expanding food equity in our communities; and supporting advocacy and civic engagement for equitable climate justice policies based on the health, social, racial, and economic equity of Latino/x/e communities. 

The curriculum goals:

  • Build leadership and knowledge of Promotoras de Salud/Community Health Workers in equitable community climate change wellbeing and resilience, family strategies for greenhouse gas reduction and health advocacy for Latino/x/e communities
  • Build climate change resilience among Latino/x/e communities through family climate change knowledge, physical and mental wellbeing, emergency preparedness, actions for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and skills for climate action advocacy for PDS/CHWs

This work aligns with Healthier Together Oregon’s strategy to build climate resilience among priority populations, which is driven by the 2020–2024 State Health Improvement Plan. We are proud to uplift our community members and help them build resilience through culturally specific education and access to resources.

Familias is grateful for our partnerships with Portland Clean Energy Fund (PCEF) and Portland Bureau of Emergency Management (PBEM), who are financially supporting our climate curriculum and climate disaster preparedness workshops.

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Climate Disaster Preparedness Workshops for Oregon’s Latino/x/e Communities

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Over the last three months, the Acción Climática team has engaged with our community through Climate Disaster Preparedness Workshops focusing on Extreme Heat and Wildfires & Air Quality. Both workshops were held in Spanish via Zoom, consisted of two 2-hour sessions each, and had an average of 23 participants engaged.

Every participant received an emergency kit that was created in collaboration with Cascadia Quake Kits. Cascadia Quake Kits is a Portland-based, woman-owned business run by Marilyn Bishop. Their mission is to prepare resilient PNW communities one kit at a time, and they’ve been an incredible partner to work with.

These workshops were open to families from Clackamas, Multnomah and Washington Counties and drew incredible interest from the community. Workshop spaces filled within two hours of opening and we had a waitlist of 18 people!

For the Wildfire and Air Quality Preparedness workshop, Familias brought in guest facilitators:

Both Denise and Ira made impactful contributions to our workshops – participants were able to learn about resources and policies that protect them from extreme weather events and create actionable solutions for themselves and their families. Having bilingual, bicultural co-facilitators was very important in making our community feel more comfortable and connected to the content they shared.

Thank you all for partnering with Familias! We’re excited to continue building more resilient Latino/x/e communities together.

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Changes to the Public Charge Rule & the Impacts on Latino Health | Cambios a la carga pública y los impactos sobre la salud de Latinos

Our mission is to “strengthen the health and well-being of Latino families and communities”. The immigration statuses of Latino families and communities in Oregon can have a great impact on their health and well-being, especially given the current political and social climate. In early August, the Trump administration announced a final rule that changes the public charge policies used by the government to determine whether or not an individual seeking legal entry into the U.S. or adjustments to residency status (i.e., getting a green card) is denied. Under this new rule that is scheduled to take effect October 15th, 2019, the Trump administration will now consider the use of previously excluded programs (e.g., non-emergency Medicaid for non-pregnant adults, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), and several housing programs) in determining if an individual will be a public charge (Source: Kaiser Family Foundation).

As a result, this new rule is sowing fear, uncertainty, and anxiety among many families and communities with immigrant populations, especially for Latino families and communities in Oregon.  This has not only led to misconceptions over the new rule and who it applies to but has also prompted some Latinos- both documented and undocumented- to withdraw themselves and their children from public programs that allow them to access vital health and social services, thus negatively affecting the health and well-being of Latino families.

What is being done to reduce the negative impact for familias throughout Oregon?

The state of Oregon has joined a few other states in legally challenging the new rule, stating that it creates unnecessary barriers and unjustly targets immigrants and their families who use public benefit programs.

At the local level, Familias en Acción has partnered with Adelante Mujeres and other non-profits throughout Oregon to host a community forum in Spanish that is catered towards the Latino community, discuss the changes to public charge and provide the appropriate resources and general information. This is also being done to help reduce fears and confusion surrounding the issue, mitigate the negative social and health impacts on familias, and strengthen the well-being of familias.

What can you do as an individual or as an organization?

  • Please download and share the flyer with information for the community forum/foro comunitario in your communities! We want this to reach as many people as possible in the Latino communities throughout Oregon:
Foro comunitario sobre la carga pública- 18 de Sept. 2019- PDFDownload
  • Read & share some helpful resources:
  1. Public charge fact sheet
  2. Public charge rule and its impact on Oregon fact sheet
  3. Core community messages for public charge/Mensajes principales de la comunidad sobre la carga pública: 
  4. Rights and protecting your health/Derechos y protegiendo su salud:
    1. English
    2. Español
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END HUNGER IN OREGON SCHOOLS

Now is the time to end hunger in Oregon’s Schools!

Healthy school meals are just as important to learning as textbooks or pencils. Children who participate in school meals are shown to: attend more days of school, show improved test scores, be more likely to graduate, and earn more as adults.

Every student, classroom, teacher, and community is better off when kids start the school day well-nourished and ready to learn. Oregon has the opportunity to become the first state in the nation to offer healthy, tasty school meals to all children at no charge – helping every student learn, grow, and succeed in life!

Why Universal School Meals?

  • Reduces stigma. Universal meals level the playing field for all students. It’s just classmates breaking bread together.
  • Equity. In this time of fear and uncertainty around immigration, reports are widespread of immigrant families being reluctant to apply for benefits for which they’re legally eligible – including school meals. No child should go without a meal due to fear.
  • Centers the needs of kids and working parents. In listening circles with parents and students, the idea of universal meals emerged as a key issue.
  • Eliminates the “Benefit Cliff.” Due to the high cost of housing, 37% of kids in Oregon who experience food insecurity are in households that earn too much to qualify.

That’s why Familias en Acción supports Universal Access to School Meals (HB 2760) and Breakfast After the Bell (HB 2765).

Tell your legislators to take action today!

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El Trasplanté Es Una Opción, Infórmate

 

This was a 4-hour workshop to inform and educate Latino patients about the process of getting a kidney transplant was held on Saturday, September 8th, 2018. In Oregon, 87% of all Latinos waiting for an organ transplant are waiting for a kidney. Latinos are three times more likely than White Americans to suffer from conditions leading to organ, and especially kidney failure, due to higher rates of obesity, diabetes, hypertension and heart disease.

Our event consisted of a presentations about the different stages of kidney disease and the options available for treatment. The presentation was led by Familias en Acción and Donate Life NW Staff. Additionally, we had a panel of health professionals from OHSU and Legacy answering questions related to a kidney transplant. A second panel of insurance experts answered questions related to insurance. Our last panel included a patient going through the transplant process, a donor and a current recipient of a kidney.

The event goal was to educate current Latino dialysis patients and community members that a kidney transplant is an option. The workshop was held for free; food and childcare were available.

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New Online Trainings

Familias en Acción has a variety of training opportunities for healthcare and social service professionals and students.

These courses give participants an important grounding in culturally sensitive issues that can arise in every interaction with patients and families.  By developing an awareness of potential cultural issues and having strategies to approach them, you and your organization can better serve your Latino patients with serious illnesses and their families…which ultimately leads to improved health outcomes.

With these trainings, you will gain:

  • Knowledge of common Latino cultural values that may affect health
  • Strategies for building patient engagement
  • Understanding of how social determinants can affect care
  • Ways to integrate community health workers and patient navigators into care
  • Cross cultural communication tools for difficult discussions

Learning Formats:

These online courses are self paced and can be taken individually, in work teams to facilitate discussion and support policy change, or in classroom settings to prepare new professionals. Each course can also be divided into sections to fit individual or group time constraints.

Course Content:

These three courses offer a continuum of information designed to meet your needs from comprehensive to more specific patient populations.

For all courses you will receive a digital badge as part of the proof of completion.

NEW COURSE

Care for Older Latino Adults with Chronic Illness – A Palliative Approach

This two-hour course offers key information about why and how to provide culturally inclusive palliative care for older adults with chronic illness. In videos, you will follow an elder Latino patient who fits one common disease profile. You will see how culturally competent interactions can improve patient understanding and the implementation of supportive palliative care.  Course is approximately 2 hours and can be taken after Care of Latinos with Serious Illness or by itself.

Click here to register for this course

NEW COURSE

Care for Latino Children – A Palliative Approach

This course offers key information about why and how to provide culturally inclusive palliative care for children and families. In videos, you will follow parents with a seriously ill child to learn how their cultural and life circumstances may impact their understanding and approach to their child’s medical condition and death. You will see how communication styles of healthcare providers can enhance…or detract from… patient and family understanding. Course is approximately 2 hours and can be taken after Care of Latinos with Serious Illness or by itself.

Click here to register for this course

Care of Latinos with Serious Illnesses: A Palliative Approach

This four-hour course gives participants a comprehensive foundation in culturally sensitive issues that can arise with patients and families who have low health literacy. Videos demonstrate the differences between culturally inclusive and exclusive care and provide rich material for self exploration and discussion.  Strategies for addressing potential provider frustrations such as delayed diagnosis, improper use of healthcare or social systems, and patient noncompliance are offered.

Click here to register for this course

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Latinos Vote 2016 Campaign

We support the Latinos Vote 2016 campaign.

As a member of the National Council of La Raza (NCLR) we are working to make sure that the 12 million eligible Latinos have the information and tools they need to register and vote on Election Day. NCLR partnered with MiTú to create a voter registration website, www.latinosvote2016.org, to make registering easy and convenient, especially for young voters.

The new app, Latinos Vote, allows users to seamlessly register to vote right from their smartphone. This targets a pivotal demographic as one million Latinos turn 18 every year.

In 2012, 11.2 million Latinos voted and made headlines. Today, there are more than 10 million Latinos eligible to register to vote. Many Latinos will be the first in their families to become a voter, and many of them say they do not know where to register. Working together we can make sure that they have the information and tools they need to register, and to vote on Election Day.

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Spanish Health Care Interpreter Training Program

New program offered by Linfield College

Linfield College Online and Continuing Education has an exciting new opportunity. Beginning this spring, they will offer a fully online Spanish Health Care Interpreter Training program.  This unique Spanish-specific training has been approved by the Oregon Health Authority and is suitable for beginning and experienced interpreters.  The program includes interpreting skills and knowledge, ethics, anatomy, physiology and medical terminology taught from a cross-cultural perspective.  Extensive oral practice in Spanish and English with instructor feedback is included for preparation for national exams.  Students will also receive an official ACTFL proficiency rating that may be used to meet language proficiency requirements for Oregon qualification and national exams.

Get all the program and registration information here:

http://www.linfield.edu/dce/enrichment/spanish-healthcare-interpreter-training.html

We encourage you to share this with your colleagues who may have an interest in this wonderful opportunity.

If you have questions please contact Tammy at enrichment@linfield.edu.

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Answer2Cancer Conference

Answer2Cancer is happening April 23, 2016 in Portland, Oregon

Those undergoing cancer treatment (and their caregivers) know there is so much to know. While Portland, and all of Oregon, are the hotbeds for cutting-edge cancer research, Answer2Cancer has been created to help patients and their caregivers/ helpers overcome the challenges of treatments and learn helpful, healthful survivor strategies. We’re creating community for patients with all types of cancer. We don’t discriminate, because cancer doesn’t.

Answer2Cancer is by and for patients who, while going through cancer treatments, realized they didn’t know what they didn’t know. So why not pass along the hard-earned wisdom? We’re planning an all-day event on April 23, 2016 to address the myriad questions that we patients have about all things cancer: treatment protocols, survivorship planning, finances, health plan coordination, intimacy, exercise, nutrition, etc.

This event is free of charge. Each attendee must pre-register.

Spanish translation will be available at this event.

Register online before April 15:  www.answer2cancer.org

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