Culturally-Tailored Education Programs to Address Health Literacy Deficits and Pervasive Health Disparities among Hispanics in Rural Shelbyville, Kentucky.
OBJECTIVE
This investigation was conducted to evaluate the impact of culturally-tailored education on health knowledge among Hispanic residents of rural, Shelbyville, KY.


METHODS
The program identified specific pathways to address health literacy deficits and disparities identified through a community-wide health assessment completed in 2010.


RESULTS
A total of 43 Hispanic males who shared deficiencies in community-wide health infrastructure were enrolled in the program. The curriculum included an introductory session followed by five, subject-specific, sessions offered on a weekly basis from February to April 2011. Pre/post-test assessments showed marked improvement in knowledge base for all participants after each session, most notably related to cardiovascular disease, diabetes and metabolic syndrome. The group reconvened in January 2012 for follow-up instruction on cardiovascular disease and diabetes, as well as global assessment of knowledge retention over a nine-month period. Comparisons of pre/post testing in cardiovascular disease and diabetes, as well as global health-related knowledge showed significant gains for all parameters.


CONCLUSIONS
Health education programs that embrace perceptions of the community of their own health, and that integrate knowledge into culturally-sensitive education, significantly improved health knowledge among Hispanic residents in rural Kentucky. Such gains may translate into sustainable improvements in health literacy and help reduce health disparities.
Departments of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, School of Public Health and Information Sciences, University of Louisville, USA ; Center for Environmental Genomics and Integrative Biology, University of Louisville, USA.
Irma N
IN
Ramos
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, School of Medicine, University of Louisville, USA ; Center for Environmental Genomics and Integrative Biology, University of Louisville, USA.
Kenneth S
KS
Ramos
Shelby Prevention Program, Shelbyville, KY, USA.
Aisa
A
Boerner
Center for Environmental Genomics and Integrative Biology, University of Louisville, USA.
Qiang
Q
He
Center for Environmental Genomics and Integrative Biology, University of Louisville, USA.
Marco A
MA
Tavera-Garcia
Culturally-sensitive health literacy programs; Health disparities; Hispanic health; Immigrant health