POL

In August 2005, Farmworker Justice partnered with the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) as the lead CBA provider involved with the national diffusion of the Popular Opinion Leader (POL) behavioral intervention.  POL, originally created by Dr. Jeff Kelly, utilizes existing influential members of a target community to endorse safer behaviors to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS.  FJ staff are the national master trainers of the intervention, and they have worked with the CDC to train people from community based organizations (CBOs) and health departments in the intervention’s theory and methods of implementation.  Currently, FJ is developing new training and support materials for the intervention with the CDC and members of Community Wellness Project.  Once these materials are finalized, FJ will adapt the POL curriculum and materials to be culturally and linguistically appropriate for particular use with Latino, migrant, and/or rural populations.

Young Latino Promotores

In 2002, Farmworker Justice adapted the evidence-based Popular Opinion Leader (POL) model, originally created by Jeff Kelley, to develop an intervention for migrant, Latino young men who have sex with men (YMSM).  In our experience, Latino migrant YMSM have been isolated from most national and local HIV prevention efforts and, as described above, those organizations that do reach out to this population do so with interventions designed for use with other risk populations.  Thus, FJ and its partners, the Vista Community Clinic (VCC) of Vista CA, and the Valley AIDS Council (VAC) of McAllen TX (later replaced by Meyers & Associates of the same locale), implemented the Young Latino Promotores (YLP) project in two US-Mexico border communities: McAllen, TX and Vista, CA. The intervention was adapted and tailored to meet the needs of the targeted migrant Latino YMSM, while maintaining fidelity to the core elements of the POL model.  Prior to the POL training workshops, community level surveys were conducted to measure the level of risky behavior engaged in by the target population and their HIV knowledge and beliefs. 

MPoderoso

Farmworker Justice was funded in 2004 to adapt the Mpowerment intervention, an HIV prevention intervention that targets young gay men (YMSM), for use with migrant Latino YMSM.  Building on its experience creating the Young Latinos Promotores project, Farmworker Justice collaborated with the Vista Community Clinic (VCC) in San Diego to adapt the Mpowerment approach to meet the needs of young migrant men who have sex with men, many of whom do not self-identify as gay.  YLP curriculum as part of a new Mpowerment program, which FJ developed as a component of MAP.  In the science-based Mpowerment intervention (CDC 1999), a Core Group and volunteers organize activities for young men who have sex with men, holding them in a supportive environment, for the purpose of encouraging safer sex practices.  In MPoderoso, FJF and VCC are currently adapting the Mpowerment intervention to work with young Latino migrant men who have sex with men in the rural area of North San Diego County.  The activities are being tailored to be culturally appropriate to the needs of the target population.  The center Alma Latina serves as the venue where the program is housed. 

Promotores de Salud

The Promotores de Salud model, commonly implemented in Latin America, uses lay health educators to provide health and service information to people within their own communities. Since 1998, Farmworker Justice has implemented this model, in partnership with community-based organizations, to provide HIV/AIDS and environmental health education and referrals to migrant and seasonal farmworkers and their families in more than a half dozen states.

The volunteer promotores in our projects are men, women and youth from farmworker communities. They often serve as a cultural bridge between their peers and the health care system, promoting health education and providing health and social services referrals to migrants and their families who might not otherwise have access to this information. 

For each of its projects, FJ has developed a training curriculum and other educational materials (most of which are available free of charge on the website in the Resources section). Using these curricula, Promotores learn leadership and communication skills as well as substantive information about HIV/AIDS and STD prevention and testing. (Promotores in our environmental health program learn or practical ways to reduce exposure to hazards such as pesticides and lead. Go to Environmental Health Project for more information.)  The strength of this model is that Promotores are empowered to address pressing health concerns in their communities, and they learn the skills needed to mobilize others to join them in that effort. 

With its project Lideres Campesinos por la Salud (Farmworker Leaders for Health), FJ has educated approximately 150 Promotores de Salud, They in turn have educated their communities about HIV/AIDS prevention, have provided HIV testing and counseling, and made hundreds of referrals to testing and other needed services. These efforts have helped dispel myths and combat stigma.

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