“Sharing Wisdom=Compartiendo Sabiduría”: An Educational Program forthe Older Latino Population in the Greater Harrisburg Area

The purpose of this study was to implement a community-based educational program for mature Latino adults and to promote social justice through empowerment, democracy, and education on health. Findings indicate that participants acquired and shared knowledge, created social networks, and gained a sense of empowerment. The Latino community in the United States is one of the fastest growing populations, and like other groups, is aging. As a minority groups, Latinos are affected by communication problems, due to a lack of or limited English language proficiency, high levels of poverty, and low access to medical services. Furthermore, Latinos often experience discrimination (which impacts employment), or have difficulty in asserting their rights, and as a group, present low levels of education compared to the Americans (Applewhite & Gonzales, 2012; Torres-Gil, 1986). The problem increases for those over 55, who share the difficulty of being Latino and being senior. Compared with US born Americans, mature Latino adults have less access to health services and tend to receive lower quality services because the high costs of medical services make them inaccessible (Applewhite, Garcia & Herrera, 2009; Applewhite & Gonzales, 2012). Older Hispanic persons are faced with oppressive circumstances that need to be changed. In light of these difficulties, the purpose of this action research study was to develop a community-based educational program, specifically related to health for older Latino learners. An assumption underlying this study is that knowledge is power and providing education will provide the tools to prevent or to address some of the issues that mature Latino adults are facing (Collins & Benedict, 2006). Mature Latino adults have to determine their problems and develop strategies to address these problems (Brookfield, 1995). Furthermore, many studies have demonstrated that active aging is a positive resource for health for the older population (Farone, Fitzpatrick, & Tran, 2005), and through education older adults can know and develop health practices. This action research study attempted to make use of education for social justice, in the sense that, as Hytten and Bettez (2011) notes “social justice education encourages students to take an active role in their own education” (p. 8), and should help to provide equal opportunities and help to transform oppressive social structures. This participatory action research study attempted to promote greater democracy and to improve Latino mature adult conditions and to enable participants to have further control in their lives. As Horton and Freire (1990) said, “the more the people become themselves, the better the democracy” (p.145). The goal of this program is not to talk about democracy; it is to practice democracy, especially within the family. While the term “empowerment” is a contested term (Batliwala, 2007; Starkey, 2003), this study is grounded in empowerment theory as discussed by Shearer (2009, 2012). The term empowerment has been used for elderly population with different meanings. Shearer (2012) mentioned that “empowerment is associated with external social forces that act on the person and