Pfizer Launches Amigos en Salud.

Pfizer Health Solutions and the Pfizer Foundation, in partnership with QueensCare, the American Diabetes Association Western Region, the California Department of Health Services’ Diabetes Control Program and the Diabetes Coalition of California, launched Amigos en Salud at the QueensCare Family Clinic Echo Park location in Los Angeles.

Amigos en Salud, translated as “Friends in Health”, focuses on Latino cultural perceptions central to successful diabetes management. Health promoters, who provide peer-to-peer health education and support, work with newly diagnosed patients in-language and focus on cultural beliefs, behavior change strategies, and the use of health literacy-appropriate materials. Taken in combination, this strategy is expected to increase patients’ desire and ability to achieve health
goals and behavior change that has the potential to improve the quality and length of their lives. Patients will receive their own health record card and be encouraged to become more involved in health care decisions.

Ms. Karen Gonzalez became an Amigos en Salud health promoter to “dedicate myself to teach patients, friends, co-workers and family members how to prevent and control diabetes. In this way, I decrease my chance of being another Latina diagnosed with diabetes and I contribute to my community’s own healing and celebration of life rather than watching others face pre – mature death.” Participants don’t always understand that the diagnosis of a potentially life-threatening disease such as diabetes is preventable and can successfully be managed for many years. The program will examine the difference between
traditional medical care, case management and the Amigos en Salud strategy that combines teaching about diabetes, behavior change, and self-management within the context of the Latino culture.

Ken Babamoto, Pfizer Health Solutions’ program director, explains that “while California is a leader in the use of health promoters to manage disease, the sheer complexity of diabetes and the barriers to care that patients must overcome requires a multi-pronged strategy to help patients build a toolkit so they gain a deeper understanding of their health and behavior within the context of their own lives. Our partnership with QueensCare allows us to discover new ways of reaching Latinos with diabetes to improve overall health outcomes. We believe this strategy will yield positive results that can be replicated in other communities across the country.”

Caroline Roan, a program officer with the Pfizer Foundation, explains “that this program fits perfectly within the mission of the Pfizer Foundation to promote access to quality health care and fills an educational void in the Latino community. The Pfizer Foundation is pleased to be able to participate in this important project.”

“QueensCare is especially pleased to participate in Amigos en Salud, as the research study validates our on-going commitment to use grassroots outreach and patient education to the uninsured and low income populations we serve. We hope that this study will encourage other health care providers to incorporate this program delivery model, as we all strive to find ways to provide health care with limited financial resources,” said Terry Bonecutter, President and Chief Executive Officer, QueensCare.

Nationally, 13.6% of all Latino Americans over the age of 20 have diabetes and frequently face development of pre-mature complications and death because of a general misunderstanding of the disease and difficulty in embracing the long-term behavior change required to manage the disease.