Low-income minority communities experience high rates of high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular disease, and asthma, among other health problems, and suffer disproportionately from HIV/AIDS, substance abuse, and violence. To help the members of our community avoid these health risks, La Clínica offers Health Education.
Our Health Education services are based upon Paulo Freire's concept of empowering people to actively participate in and take responsibility for their own education. These services include:
Promotores - Adults & Youth
Through our health education services, volunteers from the local community train as "promotores" (promoters) of health in their neighborhoods. These "promotores" receive training on leadership, organization, and communication skills necessary to conduct health education presentations and facilitate health activities. Once trained, promoters take on leadership roles in their communities, educating their neighbors about nutrition, management of chronic illness, healthy lifestyles, and other important issues.
With Youth Brigade, the young persons' version of "promotores" program, teenagers receive training to become promoters of healthy choices and lifestyles in their schools and neighborhoods. We have found this peer-to-peer approach to be highly affective when addressing smoking, sex, alcohol, drugs, violence and other issues that impact today's youth.
Adult and youth "promotores" services are available at Casa CHE.
Youth Community Education
La Clínica's health educators offer workshops at local schools to educate teens about health and social issues. They address such issues as: self esteem; values clarification; peer pressure; communication; mental health; gang, racial, and domestic violence; puberty; relationships; family life education; HIV/AIDS and STD's; drug and alcohol abuse; social problems; and other social and health topics. Using Paulo Freire teaching techniques, the health educators actively involve students in each lesson through hands-on learning activities. They also incorporate music, videos and elements from pop culture to make the information more accessible and interesting to teens.
Youth Community Education services are available at Casa CHE.
HIV/AIDS Education
La Clínica is a major provider of HIV education services to minority populations throughout Oakland. In fact, La Clínica provides the only source of education on HIV/AIDS for Latinos in the Fruitvale district of East Oakland. La Clínica's Community Health Educators deliver AIDS/HIV education presentations at schools, homes, halfway houses, substance abuse programs, and at La Clínica. Our health educators also provide confidential and anonymous HIV testing.
In addition, La Clínica offers TRUCHA (Together Reaching Users Combating HIV and AIDS). Through street outreach and group activities, our health educators provide HIV prevention education to homosexual Latino men, drug users and others at risk of HIV/AIDS.
HIV/AIDS Education is available at Casa CHE.
WIC
La Clínica has been part of the federal Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) nutrition education and supplement program for more than 20 years. Through this program, we offer one-on-one nutritional counseling, food vouchers for pregnant women, infants, and children up to 5 years of age, as well as group education on such topics as breastfeeding, lead poisoning and childhood obesity. These services are available in English, Spanish, and Cantonese at Fruitvale Neighborhood WIC and San Antonio Neighborhood WIC.
Proyecto Cambio
La Clínica offers Project Change "Proyecto Cambio" to help reduce the incidence and ameliorate the effects of domestic violence among Latino populations of East Oakland. Working in the community, our Health Educators teach parents, children and students such skills as: communication, anger management, and identification of root causes of conflict, and other methods to reduce their risk of domestic violence. This service is available at Casa CHE.
Post Office Box 22210, Oakland, CA 94623-2210 Phone: (510) 535-4000 Fax: (510) 535-4189