Bienestar Hispanic Health Initiative

Santa Maria's Bienestar program began on January 2, 2002 to improve the accessibility to health care services for Hispanic immigrants living in the Greater Cincinnati area.  Bienestar means physical, mental and spiritual wellness in Spanish. The Bienestar Hispanic Health Access program is unique in its focus on:

• overcoming barriers to health care
• grassroots training for Hispanic residents and
• training and consultation to health care professionals and organizations

During 2006 more than 500 individuals benefited from the services of Bienestar. In addition, 300 Hispanics were served through three community-based health fairs. 1,000 Medical Guides in Spanish were distributed to the Latino community members to direct them to culturally competent health care resources. With the help of the Bienestar program twenty-two first-time mothers secured health care providers and immunizations.

In 2006 educational presentations about the Bienestar programs were made for fifteen organizations/companies through the Greater Cincinnati Latino Coalition, including Cincinnati-Hamilton County Community Action Agency, The Women's Connection, Babies Milk Fund, EscapeLatino.Com, Alcoholism Council,. Legal Aid, Tech-Reach, Super Jobs Center, Cincinnati Police Department, Su Casa Hispanic Center, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Hamilton County Job and Family Services, Housing Opportunities Made Equal, Cincinnati Public Schools, Crossroad Health Center and the Healthcare Connection.

The signature feature of the Bienestar program is its Promotores component. Promotores are the members of the Hispanic community who complete a series of trainings on various diseases and their prevention (hypertension, diabetes, domestic violence, alcoholism, cancer, HIV, hygiene and government assistance programs) and then share the received information with family members and friends as well as make school and company presentations. Within the last few years Santa Maria Community Services recruited and trained a cohort of 52 Promotores. The Promotores model used throughout the United States is an effective tool for reaching the Latino community. Santa Maria is proud to have adopted this innovative tool and to continue to run this program. As in the Community Health Worker model, Promotores often come from and understand the neighborhoods and cultures thy are working with.

Bienestar Trainings continued through last year and were provided to a variety of companies including the Community Building Institute, Cincinnati Children's Hospital, the Shriner's Hospital for Children and the Head Start program. Translation services were also provided.

In September of 2005 Santa Maria published a Hispanic/English medical services directory, which is available to the public. The 2005 directories are free to all community members while supplies last.

For more information, please contact Gladys Bell, 513-557-2700 ext. 204, Becky Montenegro 513-557-2700 ext. 207, or Fernando Rico-Alarcon, 513-557-2700 ext. 205.

Use the following links for additional information about the Bienestar program:

Promotores

Bienestar Trainings and Consultations

Upcoming Events