Project Salsa: development and institutionalization of a nutritional health promotion project in a Latino community.
OBJECTIVE
Project Salsa was a community-based effort seeking to promote health through nutritional behavior change in a Latino community of San Diego, California. The purpose of this article is to report on program factors related to long-term institutionalization of Project Salsa interventions.


METHODS
Project Salsa was a demonstration rather than an experimental project. To ensure maximum sensitivity to the needs and values of the community, Project Salsa began with an extensive health needs assessment, including development of an advisory council, telephone survey, archival research, and key informant interviews.


METHODS
Project Salsa interventions took place in San Ysidro, California, located near the U.S.-Mexico border adjacent to Tijuana from 1987 to 1992.


METHODS
The intervention community had 14,500 residents, of which nearly 83% were Latino.


METHODS
Interventions included coronary heart disease risk factor screenings, meal preparation classes, newspaper columns, point-of-purchase education, school health and cafeteria programs, and breast-feeding promotion.


METHODS
Institutionalization of intervention components.


RESULTS
Two of the interventions, the risk factor screenings and school health programs, are still in operation 4 years after the end of project funding.


CONCLUSIONS
Four factors common to institutionalized components are presented in the paper.
Elder
J P
JP
Graduate School of Public Health, Center for Behavioral and Community Health Studies, San Diego State University, CA 92123, USA.
Campbell
N R
NR
Candelaria
J I
JI
Talavera
G A
GA
Mayer
J A
JA
Moreno
C
C
Medel
Y R
YR
Lyons
G K
GK
D000328:Adult; D002140:California; D002648:Child; D003256:Community Participation; D005260:Female; D006284:Health Plan Implementation; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000379:methods*; D006630:Hispanic or Latino; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D009747:Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D011247:Pregnancy