Partnership to Offer Health Information, Screenings to Latino Community

A series of programs will offer health education and resources, health screenings and health referrals.

Source: Inside INdiana Business

Press Release

INDIANAPOLIS, IN – The Mexican Consulate of Indianapolis and the Indiana Latino Institute, Inc. (ILI) begin a new partnership this year in an effort to promote health information and screenings to the local Latino community. The local program, Vete Sano, Regresa Sano (Come Healthy, Leave Healthy) Ventanillas de Salud, features two health presenters, one being the Indiana Latino Institute, Inc., and the other to change from week to week. Ventanillas de Salud in Indianapolis was inaugurated on January 6, 2006, and will take place each Friday morning throughout the year at the Mexican Consulate Office in downtown Indianapolis.

Ventanillas de Salud, a program which is offered at various Mexican Consulates throughout the nation, consists of three major components: Health education and resources, health screenings and health referrals. The partnership between the Mexican Consulate and the Indiana Latino Institute, Inc. began on a mutual concern for the health of Latinos in Indianapolis. Traditionally, Latinos face many barriers to health access, due to language, high healthcare costs, and unfamiliarity to available services, among others.

The Indiana Latino Institute will offer breath tests weekly at Ventanillas de Salud, a test to determine lung air capacity, in addition to informational materials about tobacco prevention and cessation and secondhand smoke. ILI, since its establishment in 2001, has been and continues to be a strong advocate for smoke free communities, educating businesses and individuals about the dangers of smoking and secondhand smoke.

“Ventanillas de Salud not only provides a needed service in health screenings,” states Amelia Muñoz, Program Director of ILI, “but also allows us to reach out to smokers and educate them about the dangerous effects of smoking on their health, and the health of the people who surround them.”

The new partnership begins on the heels of the Consulate making its offices officially smoke free this past December. The Consulate serves thousands of Mexican nationals living in Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky and southern Illinois. Their pro-health stance sends out a clear message to the local community, and to other Mexican Consulates throughout the country and the world.

The Indiana Latino Institute, Inc. is also using the Ventanillas de Salud to promote its upcoming smoking cessation classes in Spanish. There will be six total classes, taking place at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in Indianapolis. The evening classes are open and free to all those who are interested.

For more information on the Ventanillas de Salud, please call the Mexican Consulate at (317) 951-0005 ext. 223. For more information regarding the smoking cessation classes, please contact Oscar Morales at the Indiana Latino Institute, Inc. at (317) 472-1055, ext. 105.

Source: Mexican Consulate of Indianapolis , Indiana Latino Institute, Inc.