Blurred Borders - International Community Foundation

Centers also are collecting information on the number and specialties of foreign-trained medical
workers, as well as what barriers they have encountered in trying to practice their profession.
Currently, there are three Welcome Back Centers, in San Diego, San Francisco and Los
Angeles. 280
In addition to increasing the number of culturally competent doctors and nurses that attend
patients, one crucial component in culturally competent healthcare is health education. Here,
cooperation between non-profit organizations from both sides of the border has great
potential. While they may not be able to bring their medical practices to the other side of the
border, they provide the crucial element of health education geared toward preventive care.
Given that many of health issues prevalent among Latinos in the US and Mexicans are
preventable, or are much easier to cure with early detection, the role of health education is
very important. One such successful example is the partnership between Planned Parenthood
of San Diego and Riverside Counties and Fronteras Unidas Pro Salud (see text box).
BINATIONAL PARTNERSHIP IN HEALTH: Planned Parenthood of San Diego
and Riverside Counties and Fronteras Unidas Pro Salud
Fronteras Unidas Pro Salud has its roots in a 15-year-old partnership between Mexfam, a
Mexican family planning organization, and Planned Parenthood of San Diego and Riverside
Counties. Pro Salud was created with the goal of improving and expanding family planning
services in Mexico. In 1994, the organization reached independent, non-profit agency status as
Fundación de Proyectos Fronterizos. In 1996, the organization changed its name to Fronteras
Unidas Pro Salud.
Pro Salud provides basic medical service and education to low-income residents of Baja
California. It provides low-cost family planning services, prenatal medical care, cervical and
breast cancer screening. It also trains groups of community and juvenile health workers. These
workers are called promotores and promotoras, with the vast majority being promotoras.
The Promotores Program trains volunteers, who receive 40 hours of family planning and
reproductive health education. Promotores share family planning information and distribute
contraception – at low cost – to members of their neighborhoods and communities. They also
make patient referrals to the local clinics for more extensive care and accompany their clients
at the clinic to provide childcare, help with forms and moral support. Promotores receive
continuing education classes throughout their involvement with the program which include CPR
and first aid training, the topics of menopause, chronic and degenerative diseases, alcoholism
and nutrition.
In the past two years, 75 promotores have provided assistance to 30,000 people. This
successful program produces a high number of contacts at a low program cost and is a known
to be a very effective method of outreach and education with this population. It has been
replicated, through the Planned Parenthood, in North San Diego County and Eastern Riverside
280 All the information in this paragraph was obtained from http://e-welcomeback.org/
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