FJ staff are the national master trainers of this intervention, and they have worked with the CDC to train people from community based organizations and local 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 use with Latino, migrant, and/or rural populations.

• In 2002, Farmworker Justice adapted Popular Opinion Leader (POL) for use with migrant, Latino young men who have sex with men (YMSM).  Latino migrant YMSM are often isolated from most national and local HIV prevention efforts. Organizations that reach this population often use interventions designed for use with other risk populations.  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 POL. 

• Article: Adapting the Popular Opinion Leader intervention for Latino young migrant men who have sex with men, 2006

Community PROMISE (Peers Reaching Out and Modeling Interventions Strategies)

All FJ staff have been trained in Community PROMISE (PROMISE factsheet) and have provided capacity building assistance (CBA) to agencies that serve high-risk and/or racial/ethnic minority populations for many years. 

In addition to individual CBA, FJ has worked closely with the CDC to develop culturally competent tools, materials, and trainings that reflect the needs of implementing organizations.  These tools range from role model story templates to intense coaching sessions and are all available to the public. 

• Role Model Stories: FJ has developed a series of role model story templates, a core element of PROMISE that agencies often struggle with, aimed at rural Latinos and farmworkers that can easily be adapted by agencies nationwide.  These stories were developed through interviews with role models from the community and reflect an individual's behavior change to reduce her/his risk of becoming infected with HIV. 

• Fotonovelas: FJ partnered with Rural Women's Health Project to develop three role model stories in a fotonovela-style (comic book style) format popular with the Latino community.  These fotonovelas were written with members of the community and reflect the challenges rural Latino communities face in the fight against HIV/AIDS.

• Materials:

  Gift of a Lifetime

  Rude Awakening

  Man Protect Yourself

  Comadre

   Historias del Campo

  A Light at the Store --NEW!

  Married Women Can Get HIV Too --NEW!

  Reality --NEW!

Mpowerment
The Mpowerment intervention is a CDC proven effective science-based community level HIV prevention intervention that targets young men that have sex with men (YMSM).

• Farmworker Justice was funded in 2004 to adapt Mpowerment for use with migrant Latino YMSM.  Building on its experience creating and editing curriculums, Farmworker Justice collaborated with the Vista Community Clinic (VCC) in Vista, CA to adapt the Mpowerment intervention (titled Mpoderoso) to meet the needs of young migrant men who have sex with men, many of whom do not self-identify as gay.  FJ incorporated additional materials including basic HIV information, prevention strategies, and stigma reduction messaging.  The activities were tailored to be culturally and linguistically appropriate to the needs of the rural young Latino community.

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 to migrant and seasonal farmworkers and their families nationwide. FJ has successfully trained hundreds of promotores which in turn have reached thousands of community members.

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

Farmworker Justice has developed multiple curricula on a variety of health topics available under our Health Resources section.

For more information on these interventions or ways we can help your organization please send an email to hiv@farmworkerjustice.org.