Graduation Year

2005

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree

Ph.D.

Degree Granting Department

Anthropology

Major Professor

Michael V. Angrosino, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Roberta D. Baer, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Mario Hernández, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Marlynn L. May, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Trevor Purcell, Ph.D.

Keywords

Ethnography, Community outreach workers, Mediators, Outreach, Lower Rio Grande Valley

Abstract

This study examines promotoras from the U.S.-Mexico border. Promotoras are women who live in colonias throughout the border area and who are employed by service provider and community development organizations to do health-related outreach and education with colonia residents. The role of promotoras can be seen from the perspective of culture brokerage; that is, they are mediators between local communities and external actors such as service providers and agencies of the government. As culture brokers, promotoras facilitate the relationship among the local communities, and the system of services and outside resources. The study proposes a conceptual framework through which programs of community health workers in general, and those involving promotoras in particular, can be understood, designed, and implemented.

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