Merging education with measurement: a focus on the Hispanic community

There is an increasing need for community health promotion efforts directed to populations that are often disenfranchised from the health care system. The rapidly growing Hispanic population can benefit from outreach efforts that provide health education and promote community awareness of health status and health problems. This article describes a cost effective survey system that measured health status, health needs and provided individualized health feedback and education to Hispanic residents. The results underscore the importance of culturally and linguistically appropriate community-based initiatives that assess health status to aid in setting policy, eliminate health disparities, and determine priorities to meet the health needs of the growing Hispanic population.