Health promotion and disease prevention strategies

The rapid growth and relative youth of the Latino population of the United States, soon to become the largest ethnic-racial group in the country, presents numerous opportunities and a special challenge to those concerned with the health and well-being of this segment of people. The challenge is to develop and implement efficacious strategies for improving Latino health at a time when the overall socioeconomic profile of this population is in striking contrast to that of the rest of the American people. Much can be done to improve Latino health by implementing health promotion and disease prevention interventions designed to achieve Latino parity in reaching year 2000 national health care objectives. The problems encountered by Latinos in obtaining health promotion and disease prevention services, previous recommendations on how these problems could be addressed, and new strategies for implementing more effective services for Latinos are summarized.