Several hundred thousand persons live in unincorporated areas known as Colonias along the border between the U.S. and Mexico. Often these areas do not have adequate sanitation, including clean water supplies. The people living there typically have inadequate insurance coverage (public or private) and poor access to a regular source of healthcare and essential preventive health services. During the last decade, the Texas A&M Colonias project has established 12 Community Resource Centers (CRCs) in three regions along the Texas-Mexico border with the goal of strengthening the communities by activating and integrating community residents and organizations into the planning and execution of community development programs. In 1997, the Texas A&M Colonias project adopted a program of health promotion using promatoras ---paraprofessional outreach workers--- in the Colonias. Other states, including New Mexico and Arizona, also have experience using promatoras to reach out to community residents and involve them in health promotion and the development of healthy communities. The project has three specific objectives:

• To describe the creation and development of the CRCs as a form of community social infrastructure;
• To examine the ways in which CRCs and promatoras function, such as socializing Colonias residents concerning health-related issues and facilitating healthy communities (e.g., health fairs, environmental clean-ups); and
• To compare the structure and performance of promatoras in different settings in Texas and New Mexico, focusing on their effectiveness in promoting health and involving community residents in the developing and maintaining healthy communities.

Publications

• Mujer y Corazon: Community Health Workers and Their Organizations in Colonias on the U.S.-Mexico Border
  Southwest Rural Health Research Center
  Date: 10/2004
  This report shares the results of a study analyzing the community health worker (CHW) organizations and practices to learn how they work and why they are key resources in colonias for improving the health of the communities. The study also examined the relationships of the CHW with and their impact on the communities they serve.
• Mujer y Corazon: Community Health Workers and Their Organizations in Colonias on the US-Mexico Border: An Exploratory Study
  Southwest Rural Health Research Center
  Date: 08/2004
  Study results are reported that analyzed the Community Health Worker (CHW) organizations and practices to learn how they work and why they are key resources in colonias for improving the health of the communities. The study also examined the relationships of the CHW with and their impact on the communities they serve.