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A Case Study in Academic-Community Partnerships: A Community-Based Nutrition Education Program for Mexican Immigrants

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Abstract

Hispanics are the largest U.S. immigrant group and Mexican Americans are the largest U.S. Hispanic population. Hispanics, particularly Mexican Americans, are among the highest risk groups for obesity, placing them at increased risk for cardiovascular disease and certain types of cancer. Obesity lifestyle interventions incorporating Motivational Interviewing techniques and specific adaptations for the population of interest can have a significant impact on reducing health risks. This paper presents a community-engaged, culturally-sensitive nutrition and dietary counseling intervention conducted between 2016 and 2018 at the Consulate General of Mexico in New York City and reports preliminary findings regarding participant satisfaction and self-reported changes in eating and exercise habits. In addition, it describes the community and academic partners’ roles and processes in program development, discusses strengths and challenges posed by a multi-sector partnership and describes adaptations made using the Behavioral Model for Vulnerable Populations to increase the program’s sustainability and potential for scalability.

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Funding

This study was funded by the following grants: CCNY-MSKCC Partnership for Cancer Research, Training, and Community Outreach (Grant No. 5 U54 CA137788-08) and the NIH/NCI Cancer Center Support Grant (Grant No. P30 CA008748).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Immigrant Health and Cancer Disparities Center, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, 485 Lexington Ave., 2nd Floor, New York, NY, 10017, USA

    Jennifer Leng, Rosario Costas-Muniz, Debra Pelto, Jessica Flores, Julia Ramirez & Francesca Gany

  2. Department of Medicine, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA

    Jennifer Leng & Francesca Gany

  3. Department of Healthcare Policy and Research, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY, USA

    Jennifer Leng & Francesca Gany

  4. City College & the Graduate Center, City University of New York, New York, NY, USA

    Florence Lui

  5. Ventanillas de Salud Program at the Consulate General of Mexico, New York, NY, USA

    Josana Tonda

  6. Department of Medicine, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY, USA

    Francesca Gany

Authors
  1. Jennifer Leng
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  2. Rosario Costas-Muniz
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  3. Debra Pelto
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  4. Jessica Flores
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  5. Julia Ramirez
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  6. Florence Lui
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  7. Josana Tonda
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  8. Francesca Gany
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Contributions

JL was the lead in project conception, development, implementation, and manuscript writing, and provided overall guidance and direction; RC-M, DP, and JR contributed to project conception, development and implementation; JF contributed to project implementation; FL contributed to manuscript development; JT provided project oversight and guidance; and FG provided overall supervision, oversight and guidance.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jennifer Leng.

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Conflict of interest

The authors have no relevant financial or non-financial conflicts of interest to disclose.

Ethical Approval

The study was reviewed and approved by MSKCC’s Institutional Review Board.

Informed Consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Leng, J., Costas-Muniz, R., Pelto, D. et al. A Case Study in Academic-Community Partnerships: A Community-Based Nutrition Education Program for Mexican Immigrants. J Community Health 46, 660–666 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10900-020-00933-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10900-020-00933-6

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