Dozens of health promoters filled the steps of the Latino Health Access building, a non-profit organization in the city of Santa Ana, where they announced the proclamation of National Community Health Week in Orange County.
At the same time, they highlighted the invaluable performance of health promoters over three decades in underserved communities.
In addition, the promoters enhanced the voluntary participation of Latino men and women to carry out the work that county authorities were unable to do during the critical moments of the Covid-19 pandemic, when there was no information in Spanish for anyone.
Faced with the health crisis, it was precisely the promoters and staff of Latino Health Access who risked their lives and health to care for the poorest people. They took to the streets knocking on doors to inform hundreds of people about how to use their cell phones to obtain information on Covid-19 in their language.
They also offered resources to obtain support services, particularly during the most critical part of the pandemic, when the death rate climbed exponentially: from 10 deaths per week to 63 fatalities, according to USA FACTS.
According to the Orange County Health Agency, as of August 24, 2023, 731,599 cases of Covid-19 and a total of 8,274 deaths had been reported in this region.
they saved lives
“I am a witness that all of you helped me save lives,” said former Santa Ana mayor and now county supervisor Vincent Sarmiento. “I will forever remember when you were in the neighborhoods where people needed you the most.”
For 30 years, Latino Health Access (LHA), founded by Venezuelan-born Dr. América Bracho, has engaged Latinos and other people of color in the prevention and management of high-impact diseases.
Among adult LHA participants, 46% do not have health insurance, and are often subject to high rates of diabetes and chronic disease risks; In addition, they face other challenges in receiving adequate care due to poor economic conditions and lack of social resources in the communities where they live.
Dramatic cases of life and death
“During the pandemic, when people knew how to connect via Zoom, we formed coalitions to bring state funds to undocumented people,” said Ana Lilia Tutila, an Orange County health promoter.
“That way we were able to help 1,200 families with the $500 Visa card.”
The promoter, originally from the Department of Sonsonate, El Salvador, narrated that the most dramatic experience that she had to live next to her 18 companions was when people spoke to ask for help when they could not breathe and felt anguished.
“We were all locked up by the pandemic and people who felt they were dying were directed to do breathing exercises and help themselves with vaporizations,” Ana explained.
She added that they also helped them to request an ambulance in case they needed it or if they wanted to go to the emergency medical services.
“We couldn’t keep up all day and night,” he added.
Juanita Casas, a promoter who lives in Costa Mesa, explained that they were also in charge of taking the aid to the door of the house of the families that live in the cities of Anaheim, Costa Mesa, Santa Ana and Westminster.
The power is in the people
Dr. América Bracho, founder of Latino Health Access, said that organization provides culturally appropriate health-related services and programs to address urgent problems. The goal is to engage people in low-income, low-opportunity areas to transform their environments and create concrete, positive change in their homes and communities.
“The lesson we learned during the pandemic is that the people are the ones with the power, who remove and change the programs when they don’t work, even though, sometimes, the politicians want us to believe that we are dependent on them,” said the doctor. Bracho, to Real America News.
“We believe that people have the power to change things, because when we connect with love and solidarity, it is a power that gives love, strength and depth to all human beings.”
In fact, Latino Health Access’s mission partners with communities to deliver health, equity, and sustainable change through education, services, awareness, and civic engagement.
Dr. Bracho pointed out that, in the report of the California Future Health Workforce Commission, among the 27 recommendations made for 2030, it is called for to reflect the diversity of the state and to have capacity to improve health, equity and the well-being of all communities; and to provide accessible, affordable, high-quality services at the right time, at the right level, and in the right places.
The participation of community health workers, promoters and health providers is also suggested, through certification, training and reimbursement, expanding access to protection and social support services in communities throughout the state.
.Other recommendations indicate that community health workers/promoters (CHW/P) and peer providers can help meet the growing demand for team-based integrated primary and behavioral health care.
With this system, the goal is to harness lived experience to support better outcomes for all and to promote recovery and self-sufficiency for people with mental illness and substance use disorder.
The goal is to maintain California’s pipeline of health workers by reaching more than 60,000 students and nurturing careers in the health professions; increase the number of healthcare workers by more than 47,000, and improve diversity in the healthcare professions, generating approximately 30,000 workers from underrepresented communities.
“The work of the promoters works; it helped save many lives of people who had been forgotten by the county, but now there is new leadership that advocates for all,” said Santa Ana Deputy Mayor Jessie Lopez.
“In the National Week of Community Health Workers it is fair to recognize that the health promoters did what the county government could not do, because it could not even communicate with the Latino community; the community has to come together and know that when we come together we are more powerful”.