Journal of Community Health
Volume 40, Issue 1, 2014, Pages 167-174

Engaging Men as Promotores de Salud: Perceptions of Community Health Workers Among Latino Men in North Carolina (Article)

Villa-Torres L.* , Fleming P.J. , Barrington C.
  • a Department of Health Behavior, UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 135 Dauer Drive, 302 Rosenau Hall, CB #7440, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7440, United States
  • b Department of Health Behavior, UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 135 Dauer Drive, 302 Rosenau Hall, CB #7440, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7440, United States
  • c Department of Health Behavior, UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 135 Dauer Drive, 302 Rosenau Hall, CB #7440, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7440, United States

Abstract

The promotor de salud, or community health worker (CHW) role, is highly feminized and little is known about how men view their participation in CHW programs. We conducted in-depth interviews with Latino men in North Carolina to explore this gap. We used systematic coding and display procedures informed by Grounded Theory to analyze the data. Men described their communities as lacking cohesion, making integration of Latino immigrants difficult. Most did not consider themselves leaders or feel they had leaders in their communities. Their perceptions of the feminized CHW role as well as the volunteer or low-paid nature of CHW work conflicted with men’s provider role. They also did not think they could perform the CHW role because they lacked education, skills, and broad networks. Efforts to increase male participation in CHW programs in new Latino immigrant destinations will need to understand and address these gender and migration-related dynamics in order to engage both women and men in improving the health of their communities. © 2014, Springer Science+Business Media New York.

Author Keywords

immigrants Men Community participation Community health workers Latinos

Index Keywords

Community Health Workers health promotion demography human middle aged North Carolina statistics and numerical data volunteer Volunteers health auxiliary gender identity Hispanic Americans Residence Characteristics United States Humans Hispanic male leadership adult
Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84939881018&doi=10.1007%2fs10900-014-9915-x&partnerID=40&md5=7834e7251ee5c090520bf73c12c51696
DOI: 10.1007/s10900-014-9915-x
ISSN: 00945145
Cited by: 12
Original Language: English