Lay Health Advisors for Sexually Transmitted Disease Prevention

Non-professional community leaders may be at a great advantage in reaching otherwise hard to reach populations for the purpose of advising on sexually transmitted disease (STD) prevention (lay health advisors), health care access, and model health behavior. Latino migrant farm workers are at increased risk for STD and might benefit from such lay health advisors. The study will examine whether this strategy is a useful one for STD prevention in Latino migrant farm workers in rural and small town areas of North Carolina.

This is a demonstration project which includes the development, implementation, and evaluation of HoMBReS: Hombres Manteniendo Bienestar y Relaciones Saludables (Men Maintaining Wellness and Healthy Relationships). Applying a community-based participatory research (CBPR) approach, this 3-year study uses a quasi-experimental delayed-intervention comparison group design to assess the feasibility of implementing and the potential efficacy of an adult soccer league-based lay health advisor intervention. The intervention is designed to: reduce sexual risk behaviors among Latino seasonal farmworkers; enhance access to sexually transmitted disease/HIV healthcare services; and develop effective data collection methods among Latino men.

Inclusion Criteria: LHA (lay health advisor) and participants: To be eligible for participation in this study as a lay health advisor (LHA), an LHA must: self-identify as Latino or Hispanic; work as a migrant or seasonal farmworker; be a member of the Liga Hispana de Fútbol de NC; be 18 years of age; be literate in Spanish; and provide informed consent. Exclusion Criteria: Based on the characteristics of the league population, the researchers anticipate that few potential LHAs or participants will be excluded.