title: Benefits of a Culturally Tailored Health Promotion Program for Latino Youth With Disabilities and Their Families.
abstract: Little research is available about youth with disabilities, who experience numerous inequalities in health outcomes compared with youth without disabilities. Youth with disabilities experience many environmental and attitudinal barriers in maintaining healthy lifestyles, which put them at risk for obesity. Strong evidence has suggested that obesity rates are higher among youth with disabilities than among their nondisabled peers. The purpose of this study was to implement and examine the benefits of a culturally tailored healthy lifestyles program for Latino youth with disabilities and their families. Several cultural adaptations were made to align with the target population's cultural norms. Seventeen Latino families identified 67 behaviors they wanted to change or new habits they wanted to establish. The postassessment data showed that several family routines improved, and families reported engaging in many of the healthy habits they had identified for themselves. Implications of culturally appropriate and accessible programming are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Yolanda Suarez-Balcazar, PhD, is Professor and Department Head, Department of Occupational Therapy, University of Illinois at Chicago; ysuarez@uic.edu.
authors.forename: Yolanda
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Suarez-Balcazar
authors.affiliation: Molly Hoisington, MSOT, is Graduate Research Assistant, Department of Occupational Therapy, University of Illinois at Chicago.
authors.forename: Molly
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hoisington
authors.affiliation: Alejandro Agudelo Orozco, OTD, MHA, is Clinical Instructor, Universidad Del Valle, Cali, Colombia. At the time of the study, he was Graduate Research Assistant, Department of Occupational Therapy, University of Illinois at Chicago.
authors.forename: Alejandro Agudelo
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Orozco
authors.affiliation: Claudia Garcia is Project Coordinator, Department of Occupational Therapy, University of Illinois at Chicago.
authors.forename: Dalmina
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Arias
authors.affiliation: Kayla Smith, MSOT, is Research Assistant, Department of Occupational Therapy, University of Illinois at Chicago.
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Garcia
authors.affiliation: Dalmina Arias, MSOT, is Research Assistant and OTD Candidate, Department of Occupational Therapy, University of Illinois at Chicago.
authors.forename: Kayla
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.affiliation: Briana Bonner, MSOT, is Research Assistant, Department of Occupational Therapy, University of Illinois at Chicago.
authors.forename: Briana
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Bonner
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000067877:Autism Spectrum Disorder / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D002648:Child; D065246:Culturally Competent Care / Q000379:methods*; D004035:Diet Therapy; D019988:Children with Disabilities; D004314:Down Syndrome / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D015444:Exercise; D005192:Family Health; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000379:methods*; D006630:Hispanic or Latino; D006801:Humans; D008607:Intellectual Disability / Q000534:rehabilitation; D008297:Male; D063766:Pediatric Obesity; D055815:Young Adult