Last updated:
May 19, 2004
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Research Panel:
Health Interventions with Hispanics in the Midwest
A report contributed by 
Theme: Health
Moderator: Louise Miller, School of Nursing, MU
Presenters:
- Santosh Krishna ( presenter), Christina Vasquez Case, Andrew
Balas, SLU: "Health education interventions: Do they work?"
Santosh Krishna ( presenter), Christina Vasquez Case,
Andrew Balas, SLU: "Health education interventions: Do they work?"
Introduction. Health education in general has been found to
be effective among people of various demographic characteristics. However,
it is not known if this general finding can be applied to the Hispanic
people of Missouri. A review of health literature was performed to
find out if educational interventions are effective in improving knowledge
and health outcomes of Hispanic people of Missouri.
Methods.� Studies of patient education, health
education, and delivery of care as they relate to the Hispanic population,
were searched
for in Medline (1966-2003) and CINAHL (1982-2003)
Search results were limited to English language articles but no limit
was placed on age.
We identified 55 studies where an educational intervention
was mentioned. A look at the complete article narrowed this to 21 articles
that met
the pre-specified eligibility criteria i.e. experimental
or quasi-experimental studies to educate patients or participants in
a specific health area
or preventive care.
Results. The final 21 articles were reviewed in-depth. Studies
were conducted in various parts of the United States but none were
found in Missouri. In twelve studies participants were children and
adolescents whereas the remaining 9 studies educated adults three of
which also included children. Sample size ranged from 268 to 3348,
with a total of 9011 participants. Studies covered asthma (1), cancer
(3), diabetes (1), preventive care/prenatal screening (2), smoking
(2), nutrition and exercise (4), access to care (1), HIV/AIDS/STD (3),
safety (2), CPR (1) and wellness (1).
Lectures, rap music, video, computer-based programs, demonstration,
Internet-based and printed materials and distance-education were the
methods of education and were delivered by qualified health professionals,
school teachers or were computer-based. Sixteen of 21 studies (76%),
reported significant improvements in outcome variables and/or significant
difference between groups with a greater improvement in the intervention
group following the education. All but two studies used some form of
technology to provide information and education. Improved outcomes
included:
- Reduction in diabetes
complications
- Reduced fat in diet
- Increased access to care
- Increase in knowledge of
asthma management, nutrition and exercise, breast
cancer screening and prenatal screening for genetic diseases
- Increase in skills for
refusal to drugs
- Increase in self-esteem
- Reinforcement of negative
attitudes toward smoking
Conclusions and Discussion. This systematic review of patient
education studies suggests that culturally appropriate educational
interventions are helpful and effective in improving the health of
Hispanic people by increasing their knowledge and by helping modify
attitudes and behaviors. Technology-based educational interventions
can enhance health education efforts among this population and should
be considered by health care providers. The fact that very few studies
have been conducted that focus primarily on Hispanic population demonstrates
that more studies are needed throughout the country and specifically
here in Missouri.
Day 2: Thursday, March 11th, 2004.
Reporter: Diane Kuschel
(573)875-1395
(573)881-4041
kuscheldg@missouri.edu
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