Engaging Men as Promotores de Salud: Perceptions of Community Health Workers Among Latino Men in North Carolina

The promotor de salud, or community health worker (CHW) role, is highly feminized and little is known about how men view their participation in CHW programs. We conducted in-depth interviews with Latino men in North Carolina to explore this gap. We used systematic coding and display procedures informed by Grounded Theory to analyze the data. Men described their communities as lacking cohesion, making integration of Latino immigrants difficult. Most did not consider themselves leaders or feel they had leaders in their communities. Their perceptions of the feminized CHW role as well as the volunteer or low-paid nature of CHW work conflicted with men’s provider role. They also did not think they could perform the CHW role because they lacked education, skills, and broad networks. Efforts to increase male participation in CHW programs in new Latino immigrant destinations will need to understand and address these gender and migration-related dynamics in order to engage both women and men in improving the health of their communities

Impact of maternal and paternal preconception health on birth outcomes using prospective couples’ data in Add Health

PURPOSE: Retrospective studies of preconception health have demonstrated that parents’ health conditions and behaviors can impact a newborn’s birth outcomes and, subsequently, future health status. This study sought to examine the impact of preconception health, measured prospectively, among both mothers and fathers, on two important birth outcomes: birthweight and gestational age. METHODS: Data came from Add Health (the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health), which included interviews with original participants and a subsample of their partners in 2001–02. In 2008, the original respondents again completed an interview for Add Health. For 372 eligible infants born to these couples, birth outcomes (measured in 2008) were regressed on preconception health conditions and behaviors among non-pregnant heterosexual partners (measured in 2001–02). RESULTS: Mean birthweight was 3399 grams, and mean gestational age was 39 weeks. Birthweight was higher for infants born to mothers with diabetes or high blood pressure, and for mothers who drank alcohol at least once per month, and lower for infants born to fathers with diabetes (p < .05). Infant gestational age was marginally lower for infants born to mothers with higher levels of depression (p < .10), and lower for infants born to fathers with diabetes and with higher levels of fast food consumption (p < .05). CONCLUSIONS: Both maternal and paternal preconception health conditions and behaviors influenced infant birth outcomes. Interventions to promote preconception health should focus on prevention of diabetes and high blood pressure, as well as minimizing consumption of alcohol and fast food