The Latino community in Johnston County, North Carolina : an action-oriented community diagnosis
Creators: name: Seman, Laura
name: Bailey, Stacy
name: McKnight, Molly
name: Cole, Helen
name: Weaver, Sarah
Publisher: name: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University Libraries
Year: 2006

description: From September 2005 – April 2006, five Masters of Public Health students from the University of North Carolina School of Public Health, Department of Health Behavior and Health Education conducted an Action Oriented Community Diagnosis (AOCD) with the Latino Community of Johnston County. The AOCD examined the Latino community’s quality of life, strengths, challenges and needs through community-based, participatory research with Latino community members and service providers assisting the Latino community. Two preceptors from Johnston County assisted the student team throughout the AOCD process by providing an orientation to the community and identifying key informants. The student team interviewed 22 service providers, 15 community members and conducted two community member focus groups. The student team supplemented information acquired through these interviews with secondary data and student observations in the form of field notes. Five overarching themes resulting from this process were presented at a Community Forum, held in Smithfield, Johnston County on April 30, 2006. Topics that were discussed are as follows: education; employment; leadership; health; and housing. Below is a list of the themes and the action steps generated at the Community Forum to address each issue: There are difficulties providing education to Latinos due to policies that restrict how ESL classes are taught, lack of information about educational services and the inability of many Latino students to continue to university-level studies. 1. Education services will be publicized through radio and newspaper advertisements and communications between community members. 2. Community members will volunteer to teach classes in the Johnston Community College mobile ESL unit. 3. Community members will organize groups to meet regularly for classes at the mobile unit. 4. Community members and service providers will meet again in May to discuss progress and continue addressing this and other issues concerning education. Despite the fact that Latinos are moving from migrant work to more permanent, stable employment, Latinos still suffer from employer abuse, insufficient living wages and unemployment. 1. Contact the Spanish language television channel, Univision, and ask them to advertise information about services and employment issues as part of a specific weekly program. 2. Contact Johnston Community College about advertising the continuing education services that they offer in Spanish to increase awareness of available services to improve employment preparedness in the Latino community. 3. Contact the local churches about advertising the ESL and childcare services that they offer to support working parents. There is a need for leadership and sustainable collaboration within the Latino community. 1. Contact and speak with Latino communities in Siler City and Sanford to find out how they fostered and encourage leadership within the community. 2. Make a connection with El Pueblo in Raleigh and solicit advice on how to encourage advocacy and leadership within the community. 3. Send a letter to the local Hispanic radio station, encouraging Latinos in Johnston County to voice their concerns and opinions concerning their community. 4. Create and advertise training for the community on basic leadership and community organizing skills. Lack of interpreters and high quality interpretation hinders Latino patient-provider communication. Lack of insurance, substandard housing conditions and heightened susceptibility to occupational injuries and other health concerns place Latinos at greater health risk. 1. Publicize assistance programs available to the Latino community to subsidize cost of medications and health services. 2. Register complaints about lack of interpreters and health department funding through a community petition and submittal of Non-Compliance with Title XI Forms to the North Carolina State Government. 3. Coordinate a Latino Health Fair to provide information on health services available to the Latino community. Poor housing conditions and landlord abuse are serious issues facing the Latino community. 1. Contact Housing Assistance to collect information on Renter Rights. 2. Form an action committee on Housing, which will meet later in May at the Johnston Community College (JCC). 3. Invite a representative from Housing Assistance to the committee meeting at the JCC.