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Background: Maternal and Family Health Services (MFHS) provides health services in 16 Pennsylvania counties. 30% of Pennsylvania's Hispanics reside in 5 (MFHS) counties. With 50,825 Hispanics Berks County, PA has the largest of Hispanics outside of Philadelphia. In 2006 the rate of Gonorrhea among Pennsylvania's Hispanics was five times higher than among white non-hispanic residents.
Objectives: (MFHS) in colaboration with the PA Department of Health STD Program set out to identify community partners in Reading, PA for the purpose of developing and conducting a community based outreach project that would facilitate Hispanic involvement in preventive health care by way of STD testing.
Methods: 13 key community service and health care providers were identified. Each day during the week of the 4th of May at least one provider was scheduled to offer free walk-in STD testing.
Results: 210 people were tested for Chlamydia and Gonorrhea by 5 providers in 6 locations. Two males were identified with Chlamydia and one female was diagnosed with untreated Syphilis.
Conclusions: The success of the project was not just in finding and treating people for STDs. Increased knowledge of disease and the understanding of disease prevention is a foundation for building a less disparate community through trust and increased involvement in preventive health care. The project built community trust that resulted in a better understanding of the underseved population and fostered new relationships with service providers including the development of a an ongoing STD testing and treatment site in the local predominantely Hispanic (76%) High School.
Implications for Programs, Policy, and/or Research: Developing and maintaining Developing community based partnerships for the purpose of fostering greater participation in prevention and intervention programs including STD testing and treatment must accomodate relevant local needs. The success of intervention programs must be measured not just by the number of cases of untreared diseases identified but by the success of establishing ongoing relationships that can address emergent public health concerns on a local basis.