Building the health of communities: A partnership between occupational therapy and promotores de salud

Lee, J. J., Martínez, J., & Schepens Niemiec, S. L. (2022). Building the health of communities: A partnership between occupational therapy and promotores de salud. SIS Quarterly Practice Connections, 7(1), 12–14. 

Communities of color will account for almost half of the U.S. population by 2050 and experience low quality of care and health when compared to White communities (Ndugga & Artiga, 2021). Communities of color in isolated, rural areas face additional disparities in health outcomes and challenges in accessing care. Occupational therapists (OTs) can help mitigate such disparities through a collaborative, culturally responsive, prevention-focused, and stakeholder-engaged approach (Austin-McCain, 2015; Martinez et al., 2019). We present ¡Vivir Mi Vida! (¡VMV!; Live My Life!)—a lifestyle intervention for rural-dwelling, late-midlife Latinos—an exemplar program that effectively extends occupational therapy services through an innovative OT–promotores de salud partnership (Schepens Niemiec et al., 2018).