A Focus on Latino Health

For researchers at the Maya Angelou Center for Health Equity, the Reverend Alfredo Miranda is ideally placed to spread the word about health education to the Latino community. For 15 years Miranda worked as a physician in his native country, Mexico. Eight years ago he moved to America to work as a missionary within the Latino community.

As coordinator of Hispanic ministries in Salem Presbytery and liaison for an Angelou Center project, he now has the opportunity to combine his interests — the spiritual and physical health of the Latino community.

“I have hundreds of stories of people in these communities who have health problems,” said Miranda. “Many of them have never been educated on proper diet and exercise.”

Other challenges many in this population face include access to health care and language barriers.

“The Latino Lay Health Advisors (LHA): A Coalition Initiative” is designed by researchers at Wake Forest School of Medicine’s Angelou Center, in conjunction with the Medical Center’s Department of Chaplaincy & Pastoral Education, to overcome these barriers. The project aims to empower key leaders in selected Latino religious communities to become health educators who can improve health knowledge and overall health within Latino communities and is funded by the NC Health and Wellness Trust Fund.

Miranda, a liaison for the project, has helped identify church members to be trained as lay health advisors.

“Religious leaders were chosen because a significant percentage of the Latino population has an ingrained respect for religious figures,” said Jorge Calles- Escandon, MD, principal investigator of the LHA project and an endocrinologist at Wake Forest Baptist. “The project has brought together an array of denominations — Pentecostals, Baptists, Methodists, Catholics and Presbyterians — in a collaborative effort to improve the health of the Latino community.”

As one way to overcome barriers, School of Medicine faculty and students will conduct health screenings at the churches, bringing care directly into communities. Those needing further care will be referred to the School of Medicine’s DEAC (Delivering Equal Access to Care) clinic.