Abstract A019: Busting myths in healthcare: Establishment of a bilingual health education platform in a border community

Abstract

Abstract Introduction: The Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (TTUHSC) El Paso Health Education and Awareness Team (EP-HEATTM) was established in 2020, focusing on disseminating bilingual (English/Spanish) health education material to the border community. A co-production effort was established with EP-HEAT consisting of TTUHSC El Paso students, faculty, and Promotoras, also known as Community Health Workers. These events allow students to interact directly with the community and serve as healthcare educators to better prepare them for the community-facing aspects of being a physician and developing a professional identity. The goal of this project was to provide an environment where community members, students, Promotoras and healthcare experts work together to identify and dispel myths in healthcare. Methods: The EP-HEAT students and Promotoras work collaboratively with community members to identify myths in healthcare field, including cancer and treatment for the Hispanic population.​ Students then identify experts in the healthcare field who can address the myths. The promotoras invite community members to attend the event and finally, the Myth Busters event occurs in a pseudo-talk-show manner. Students and Promotoras, serve as the hosts, interviewing the expert in the field in a bilingual (English/Spanish format), with the audience being he community members. Results: Community members who attended the Myth Buster events received a survey to obtain demographic data, identify the motivation behind attendance, and evaluate the benefit and effectiveness of the event. Our results showed that 81% of our attendees identified as Hispanic, with 45% older than 46 years old. Discussion: An unanswered question that is pending is whether attending the Myth Buster events enabled community members to seek out additional resources for the identified healthcare topics (such as vaccinations, antibiotics, and Diabetes/healthy living) for example. We also need to determine whether students’ professionalism and networking increased as a result of the events. Citation Format: Sara Mansour, Lorena Fernandez, Jesse Allen, Veeravenkata Garikiparthy, Laura Renovato, Maria Land, Ricardo Belmares, Tanis Hogg, Nathan Holland, Jessica Chacon. Busting myths in healthcare: Establishment of a bilingual health education platform in a border community [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 16th AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2023 Sep 29-Oct 2;Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2023;32(12 Suppl):Abstract nr A019.