Latino Health Riverside (La Salud de los Latinos en Riverside)

The inaugural project of the Center for Healthy Communities, the goal of Latino Health Riverside was to learn more about the health concerns of three predominantly Latino neighborhoods in Riverside, California; and to improve the capacity of community partners, faculty, and local community based organizations (CBO) to engage in comparative effectiveness research. The program was created in July 2015, when the Center for Healthy Communities (CHC) received an engagement award from the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute to begin laying the foundation for future partnered-research to address health disparities within Latino communities in the city of Riverside.

About the Latino Health Riverside Project

Latino Health Riverside (LHR) aimed to:

• Identify the key health concerns of residents in three predominantly Latino neighborhoods in Riverside – Arlanza, Casa Blanca, and Eastside.
• Build trust between the CHC and stakeholders in the Latino community.
• Increase the capacity of community-based organizations that serve the Latino community and UCR faculty to partner in community-engaged research.

The project was accomplished through several engagement activities, which included:

• Establishment of a LHR project steering committee.
• In-home meetings.
• Deliberative Democracy Forums.
• Training for community-based organizations and academics.

To date, the Latino Health Riverside project has formed an active and engaged 15-member steering committee (including alternates) which has been providing wise guidance to the project as a whole. Last year nine families in the three neighborhoods hosted small intimate dinners during which attendees identified health concerns in their communities. Following the in-home meetings, we presented what we learned at town hall meetings.

The next step was to organize and prioritize what we heard from the in-home meetings. We convened four framing sessions with diverse stakeholders to organize the concerns into four categories. As part of building community capacity to engage in partnered research, 10 community members were trained to facilitate the Deliberative Democracy Forums. Led by our trained facilitators we held four community forums in June 2016. These dynamic and engaging public deliberations led to a community prioritization of the categories of concern.

Project Team

• Greer Sullivan (principle investigator)
• Christina Reaves
• Juliet McMullin
• Ann Cheney
• Mary Figueroa (community lead)

Community Lead Investigator — Mary Figueroa

The LHR's community lead investigator is Mary Figueroa, a highly-respected and trusted member of the Latino community.

A graduate of UCR, she has devoted her time to a range of community advocacy activities including building collaborative partnerships with the Riverside Police Department; founding the Eastside Think Tank, an organization that brings Eastside community members together to identify and resolve key community concerns; and serving as an advisor for a variety of local organizations, including the American Diabetes Foundation, LaVista Recovery and Wholeness Center for Women, and the South Coast Air Quality Management District Environmental Justice Committee.

Figueroa has been elected to the Riverside Community College District Board five times, serving for 20 years, including five years as president. In May of 2016, Figueroa was elected to the California Community College Trustee Board of Directors.