Above, Westside clinic's migrantfarmworker outreach. This pinata says "Malburro (bad donkey), purely wicked smoke, 20 cigarettes that will make you sick with cancer and will kill you." On the other side, it says, "what the makers don't tell you is that cigarettes are an addictive drug. " access to primary care is to reallocate health care funding. And even though health care reform was one of the Administration's top priorities, Latin American people's health care needs are often purposely overlooked. Politicians need not cater to this group of people that often do not or cannot vote. As far more than half of the patients are monolingual Spanish-speaking families, it is part of the clinic's mission to provide services in an environment of cultural sensitivity. Services are offered in a supportive environment that fosters participation and awareness among client groups. Almost all staff who have direct contact with patients are fully bilingual. Health education materials and registration forms are provided in both Spanish and English, at a literacy level that may be easily understood. Marcy Lopez, administrative assistant, says that, Page 8 RAIN Summer 1996 Volume XV, Number 1 "...getting care Westside style means that you are absolutely not a faceless number in a cold, sterile, costly, wasteful 'health factory.' Our patients are treated as guests would be in our own homes: with respect. All you have to do is walk in that front door: La Salsa blares from the radio; you can see the color; feel the warmth. We want our patients to feel at home, that's why we provide culturally sensitive health education in a multilingual environment. It comforts our patients, it ensures that they will leave the clinic understanding exactly what's going on with their bodies." Westside's health education department helps people help themselves. Their three focus areas are tobacco, prenatal care, and HIV education. These are three of the most important public health issues of the day because the best remedy for cancer or AIDS is prevention. Likewise, the key to a healthy pregnancy is a vast array of information that can prevent death and disability for both mother and child. Because many of Westside's patients suffer from smoking-related illness and disease, the clinic has received a variety of Tobacco Tax monies to provide tobacco education including on-site and outreach services for tobacco education and cessation counseling. The anti-tobacco program teaches the risks involved with both smoking and being exposed to second-hand smoke. Morgan Stryker, Physician Assistant, describes how Guillermo came to the clinic as a two-and a-half-pack-a-day smoker. "Before he began receiving care at Westside, he simply was never informed of the direct relationship between hypertension, heart disease and tobacco. I told him that if he didn't stop playing with his life as if it were a crap-shoot, he'd end up a statistic." After three months of intensive counseling, Guillermo is finally tobacco free... although he is still paying the price. Before he began receiving care at Westside, he simply was never informed of the direct relationship between hypertension, heart disease and tobacco. The Outreach Program identifies populations at risk (current smokers, pregnant women, mothers with young children, farmworkers, ethnic minorities, and out-of-school teens) and where they can be reached most effectively; finds community resources and potential locations where cessation counseling and education can take place; and designs community health education plans integrating materials, resources and efforts of other agencies involved in tobacco education. Outreach workers make contact with the community in El Barrio (the neighborhood), in ESL
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