Abstract
An academic institution and a community organization partnered for one of the first studies assessing health needs of Mixtecs,
indigenous immigrants from Southern Mexico, residing in Ventura County, California. Ten bilingual Spanish- and Mixteco-speaking
promotores received a 1-day focus group training, participated in a focus group themselves and conducted 5 focus groups with
42 Mixtec community members. The focus group training is described. Health concerns discussed in the focus groups include
outdoor exercise among women viewed as flirtatious; reluctance to ask for governmental assistance due to fear that children
will have to pay back later; soda consumption perceived as a symbol of socio-economic status; and unwillingness to obtain
mammograms or pap smears because private body parts are to be touched by husbands only. Training promotores to conduct focus
groups can increase organizational capacity to identify pressing health needs in under-represented and hard-to-reach population
groups.
indigenous immigrants from Southern Mexico, residing in Ventura County, California. Ten bilingual Spanish- and Mixteco-speaking
promotores received a 1-day focus group training, participated in a focus group themselves and conducted 5 focus groups with
42 Mixtec community members. The focus group training is described. Health concerns discussed in the focus groups include
outdoor exercise among women viewed as flirtatious; reluctance to ask for governmental assistance due to fear that children
will have to pay back later; soda consumption perceived as a symbol of socio-economic status; and unwillingness to obtain
mammograms or pap smears because private body parts are to be touched by husbands only. Training promotores to conduct focus
groups can increase organizational capacity to identify pressing health needs in under-represented and hard-to-reach population
groups.
- Content Type Journal Article
- Category Brief Communication
- Pages 1-4
- DOI 10.1007/s10903-012-9709-0
- Authors
- Annette E. Maxwell, Center for Cancer Prevention and Control Research, Fielding School of Public Health and Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of California Los Angeles, Box 956900, A2-125 CHS, Los Angeles, CA 90095-6900, USA
- Sandra Young, Mixteco/IndÃgena Community Organizing Project (MICOP), Oxnard, CA, USA
- Roena Rabelo Vega, Center for Cancer Prevention and Control Research, Fielding School of Public Health and Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of California Los Angeles, Box 956900, A2-125 CHS, Los Angeles, CA 90095-6900, USA
- Alison K. Herrmann, Center for Cancer Prevention and Control Research, Fielding School of Public Health and Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of California Los Angeles, Box 956900, A2-125 CHS, Los Angeles, CA 90095-6900, USA
- Cha See, Center for Cancer Prevention and Control Research, Fielding School of Public Health and Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of California Los Angeles, Box 956900, A2-125 CHS, Los Angeles, CA 90095-6900, USA
- Beth A. Glenn, Center for Cancer Prevention and Control Research, Fielding School of Public Health and Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of California Los Angeles, Box 956900, A2-125 CHS, Los Angeles, CA 90095-6900, USA
- Ritesh Mistry, Center for Cancer Prevention and Control Research, Fielding School of Public Health and Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of California Los Angeles, Box 956900, A2-125 CHS, Los Angeles, CA 90095-6900, USA
- Roshan Bastani, Center for Cancer Prevention and Control Research, Fielding School of Public Health and Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of California Los Angeles, Box 956900, A2-125 CHS, Los Angeles, CA 90095-6900, USA
- Journal Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health
- Online ISSN 1557-1920
- Print ISSN 1557-1912