Funding Awarded for Health and Wellbeing Workshop Series

Posted by Derek Johnson on November 13th, 2017 Posted in: Advocacy, Funding, News from the Region, Outreach, Training

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The GMR office is excited to announce that Comunidades Latinas Unidas en Servicio (CLUES) has been granted an Outreach Award for the development and implementation of a Health and Wellbeing Workshop Series.

Background
Both nationally and in Minnesota, Latinos experience persistent equity gaps in health and wellbeing. These disparities are not based in biology, but rather are the result of the burdens of poverty falling disproportionately on people of color and immigrant communities. To achieve a state of well-being as a community and reverse persistent equity gaps, Latinos need access to high-quality health services that are culturally and linguistically responsive. CLUES’ new Health and Wellbeing course will address that need by providing a holistic, culturally competent health education program to Minnesota’s Latino community.

Project Description
The GMR office is funding CLUES to design and pilot workshops to engage families in experiential learning around topic areas of interest. Workshops will also serve to promote social connectedness among participants and cover topics across well-being, including healthy behaviors (healthy eating, active living, tobacco cessation), communication, and dealing with difficult emotions (regulation of feelings and its expression, trauma). Workshops will be led by CLUES Community Health Workers who live and work in the target communities and will include live streaming or pre-taped sessions by CLUES mental health professionals. Additionally, workshops will include familiarizing participants with online resources, including MedlinePlus. To do so, staff will demonstrate utilizing the web-based tool to research information and will provide examples to participants on when/how the resource could help them.  Participants will receive a printed handout with key resources for their future use.

Outcomes
The implementation of this project aims to fulfill two main goals:

1. Develop a six-session health and wellbeing curriculum in Spanish, including presentations, materials for clients, resources, evaluation tools, and a short guide on delivery instructions
2. Pilot two workshops in target areas in southern Minnesota