Linking Individual Needs to Community and Clinical Services

For 15 years, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)-funded Arizona Prevention Research Center (AzPRC) has been engaged in academic community collaborative research to reduce chronic disease health disparities among the Latino border communities in Arizona, which positions the center well to contribute to CDC's current winnable battle of nutrition, physical activity and obesity. The AzPRC's research study Linking Individual Needs to Community and Clinical Services (LINKS) will implement and evaluate a CHW-delivered preventive program linking primary care settings dedicated to reaching the under-served with community services that are county-delivered or -based. By developing community-clinical linkages, the AzPRC will help ensure access to, and quality of, culturally relevant prevention and promotion efforts. These efforts will result in a sustainable and scalable CHW model program that reduces obesity and associated chronic disease, and improves overall health in under-served communities at the Arizona U.S.-Mexico border.