Evaluating Colonias on the Texas-Mexico Border

 

Project Investigators:

Project PI: Marlynn May, PhD
Senior Investigator: Ricardo Contreras

 

Project Overview:

This study focuses on colonias along the border between the U.S. and Mexico and, more specifically, on unique organizations and people who help meet the basic health and infrastructure needs of residents of these colonias.  Hundreds of thousands of people who live in proximity to this 2000 mile border that extends from the West Coast of  California to the Gulf of Mexico in Texas reside in colonias.  The colonias are poor and frequently lacking several elements of basic community infrastructure, such as water, sewer, gas, electricity, and paved roads.  They are equally underserved with respect to access to education, employment, and health care.

 

With the colonias as context, this project analyzes community-health worker (C-HW) organizations and community-health worker (C-HW) practices, with an eye to understanding how and why these organizations and workers do what they do and why they are key resources in colonias for improving the health of the communities and enabling the population to make the most of available resources.  Moreover, it examines their relationships with and their impact on the communities they serve as well as the related policy implications.

 

Project Funding Source:

Office of Rural Health Policy

 

Project Term:

January 2001- June 2002

 

Project Reports:  

 

May, M. and Contreras, R. (2004).  Mujer Y Corazon: Community Health Workers and Their Organizations in Colonias on the US-Mexico Border An Exploratory Study.  College Station, TX: The Texas A&M University System Health Science Center, School of Rural Public Health, Southwest Rural Health Research Center. REQUEST A COPY

 

October 2004 Policy Brief (PDF):  Mujer y Corazon: Community Health Workers and Their Organizations in Colonias on the US-Mexico Border