Fighting Lupus Among Latinas

The program teaches community health workers how to explain the need for therapy even when SLE is asymptomatic, she says. The ACR provides them with lupus education and practical skills to raise awareness and help navigate their clients, who trust them, to a rheumatologist for diagnosis and therapy.

“We are trying to bring the community back into the equation,” says Ms. Ginés. “We are providing the community health workers the training and information they need.”

For more information on the Promotores Project and the ACR’s Collaborative Initiatives, send an email to [email protected].

Susan Bernstein is a freelance medical journalist based in Atlanta.

References

1. Dall’Era M, Cisternas MG, Snipes K, et al. The incidence and prevalence of systemic lupus erythematosus in San Francisco County, California: The California lupus surveillance program. Arthritis Rheumatol. 2017 Oct;69(10):1996–2005.
2. Izmirly PM, Wan I, Sahl S, et al. The incidence and prevalence of systemic lupus erythematosus in New York County (Manhattan), New York: The Manhattan lupus surveillance program. Arthritis Rheumatol. 2017 Oct;69(10):2006–2017.
3. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Promotores de salud/community health workers. 2018 Aug 27.