More about CEGIB Community Outreach and Educational Core

This community consists of approximately 8 thousand individuals, many of whom lack basic social and economic support structures and consequently, has continued to function as a disadvantaged group in terms of health promotion and literacy.  To achieve our goals, we seek to empower the community of Shelbyville with sound medical and scientific information on the role of genes in health and disease, and how environmental factors and lifestyle practices can significantly influence health outcomes.  We have built strong partnerships with several community organizations in Shelbyville, especially El Centro Latino and Shelby Drug and Alcohol Coalition.  We have completed training of six community leaders who were recruited as lay health workers and that self-identified as “Promotores de la Salud Ambiental”.  These individuals have commenced their outreach efforts by engaging the residents of Shelbyville in a comprehensive community and health assessment program.  Considerable community support has been generated by this collective effort.  The ultimate goal of the intervention is to build a self-sustainable educational program that persists within the community long after the intervention is completed.  Modern theorists have proposed that systems thinking can be used to tackle intractable social issues, such as environmental health in depressed communities.  Unlike previous social theories influenced by a reductionist approach to social problems (reminiscent of the approaches used in the biomedical sciences), theories developed through systems thinking incorporate the awareness that the entry of new knowledge may lead to conflict between those who are or perceive themselves to be at risk, and those perceived as being responsible for creating or preventing that risk.  These social tensions must be factored into our community outreach efforts with the expectation that application of integrative approaches will enhance the quality of its products of the COEC. 

Partners

Our Shelbyville Promotores Network is working with the following organizations to connect with the Hispanic community:

Shelby County Cooperative Extension Services

• Translation of flyers in Spanish
• Distribution of flyers within Hispanic neighborhoods
• Door-to-door approach to invite Hispanics to participate in health related activities.

Seven Counties Services of Shelbyville

• This organization has provided us access to do interviews within their facilities.

Shelby County Drug/Alcohol Advisory Council

• Development of cultural awareness training to train personnel of community-based organizations that are providing services to Hispanics within Shelbyville.
• Education of pregnant women on drug and alcohol use during pregnancy.
• Health fairs: our Promotores Network helped this organization organize their annual health fair, contributed with an educational booth and also served as a judge in a community competition.

Centro Latino

• Provides space for our training and workshops
• Worked collaboratively with us to identify individuals that later became environmental health promotores.
• Worked with us to plan health fairs.

In Louisville, we are working with:

Metro Louisville Department of Public Health and Wellness

• Healthy Start Program board member for several years.
• Worked in development of many grants application, at present we are including them as community partners in an RFA we are writing to develop infrastructure that facilitates translational research. 

Bridges of Hope Neighborhood Place

• Member of the Council for several years.
• Worked collaboratively with us to advertise and invite health care providers to attend our educational workshops.
• Provides space for our trainings.

Holly Name and St. Joseph Catholic Churches

• Hispanic ministries which are working with us to help educate Hispanics.  The educational program focuses on the relationship between genes, culture, environment and disease.
• Worked collaboratively to put together their annual Health fair. Provides space for our training and workshops
• Provides space for our training and workshops