Effective cancer prevention is vital for all, particularly low-income Hispanics who may be uninsured or underinsured. Increasing minutes of physical activity and fruit and vegetable intake are target behaviors that can be effective in preventing certain cancers. The proposed program will focus on increasing physical activity participation and nutritious eating among low-income Hispanics living in Cameron, Hidalgo, Galveston, Nueces, and Webb counties.

We propose to accomplish this through a two-step process. The first will be to train promotoras (community health workers) from these counties in our Tu Salud ¡Si Cuenta! Curriculum addressing the targeted behaviors. This curriculum is newly...

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Effective cancer prevention is vital for all, particularly low-income Hispanics who may be uninsured or underinsured. Increasing minutes of physical activity and fruit and vegetable intake are target behaviors that can be effective in preventing certain cancers. The proposed program will focus on increasing physical activity participation and nutritious eating among low-income Hispanics living in Cameron, Hidalgo, Galveston, Nueces, and Webb counties.

We propose to accomplish this through a two-step process. The first will be to train promotoras (community health workers) from these counties in our Tu Salud ¡Si Cuenta! Curriculum addressing the targeted behaviors. This curriculum is newly approved by the Texas Department of State Health Services for promotora continuing education. The second step will be to work with partner organizations in the priority counties where evidence-based community-wide campaigns exist to implement Tu Salud ¡Si Cuenta! Outreach.

This outreach program is specifically designed to deliver the knowledge and skills learned in the Curriculum using technology and non-directive motivational techniques to help participants increase physical activity participation and nutritious eating. We also propose a strong evaluation to assess the effectiveness of Tu Salud ¡Si Cuenta! Outreach through a randomized control evaluation, the gold-standard design. The findings from this evaluation will provide evidence for further dissemination of this approach to other areas of the State and other areas nationally where Hispanics live.

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