Thinking Big in a small place: Changing Transportation through CHW advocacy efforts in US/Mexico border community

Community health workers (CHWs) are natural community leaders and community change agents who work to improve the health of their community.  While natural leadership may incline individuals to be identified or drawn to the CHW profession, CHWs have both an interest and need for specific training in community advocacy, or  inspiriting and teaching others how to gain influence over factors impacting their lives and to give them the tools to achieve their goals Community Health Workers from Mariposa Community Health Center in Nogales, Arizona participated in Acción para la Salud (Action for Health), a participatory research project conducted by the University of Arizona Prevention Research Center. This presentation will tell the story of how three Promotoras de Salud applied their advocacy training to address the lack of public transportation expressed by the Nogales community. The session will review the purpose of the Acción para la Salud project and describe the basic advocacy principles addressed by the curriculum developed by the project. The strategies that the Promotoras used to effect environmental change--in this case to improve public transportation between the international border, public housing neighborhoods and a critical access hospital--will be discussed. The session will conclude with how the same advocacy concepts can be applied by CHWs in many settings as change agents regarding the community environment and policies to address social determinants of health that affect health and wellbeing.