Margarita Mendoza (Image by: Vivian Nguyen)
By Vivian Nguyen
Through a 10-week leadership training program, LifeLong Medical Care builds the capacity of health center patients as educators and advocates for their community. Upon completion, trainees become certified volunteers and commit to a minimum of one year working as a LifeLong Health Promoter. Community Clinic Consortium, in partnership with LifeLong Medical Care, launched the pilot program with a generous grant from The California Endowment. Margarita and her husband, Luis, both graduated with the first cohort of Health Promoters on August 22, 2012.
In their health analysis, Margarita and her fellow Health Promoters prioritized obesity and diabetes as the greatest concern for their community. Because of this, Community Clinic Consortium contracted with 18 Reasons (formerly Three Squares), a Bay Area non-profit organization that provides nutrition education to low-income families through a program called Cooking Matters. With funding support from Kaiser East Bay Community Benefit, Margarita and other Health Promoters successfully completed an 8-week training program and became certified to teach the Cooking Matters program in the Richmond community.
Below, Margarita shares her personal transformation from patient to Promotora and offers insight into why cooking really does matter.
Q: Why did you decide to become a Health Promoter (Promotora) and what kind of work do you do?
A: I really wanted to help my community and get the word out that there are places for people to go when they want to see a doctor. During health fairs, I try to give out telephone numbers and addresses [of our community clinics] to people in case they need to see a doctor. For example, at the Cinco de Mayo Fair in Richmond, I found out that some people go far away to clinics in Oakland even though there are nearby clinics in Richmond and San Pablo. There are health centers available and I want people to know that.
Q: In addition to being a Health Promoter, you’re also an instructor for Cooking Matters. Can you tell us a more about the program?
A: Cooking Matters offers free lessons to the community on healthy cooking and eating. Lessons take place once a week and are 2 hours long. There are 6 lessons total. During the first 5 lessons, [students and instructors] cook together. On the last lesson, only students make food but they have to use all the knowledge that they’ve learned so far. The lessons are led by a 3-person team of instructors—a teacher, a chef and a helper. The instructors switch off roles every lesson.
Q: Who takes these lessons?
A: Many students are mothers with children or people who live in apartments or people with different health problems, such as a chronic illness. Cooking Matters gives [the instructors] all the ingredients in a bag before each lesson but it’s important that those ingredients are also readily available in the home. Any unused ingredients are shared with the rest [of the class] after the lesson ends.
Q: What is the process for becoming a Cooking Matters instructor?
A: To become an instructor, you have to complete 8 lessons and each one is 3 hours long. You learn things like which foods to buy and the best seasons to get certain fruits and vegetables. There is a lesson on how to cook lean meats, grains and protein. There is also a lesson on how to cook with dairy, lactose, yogurt and cheese. A lot of what we learn is how to know which [ingredient] is better for you and how to make healthy substitutions, like using yogurt instead of cream. I completed the program last year and began teaching as an instructor.
Q: What motivated you to become involved with Cooking Matters?
A: On a personal level, I needed to make a change in my food choices to get healthy. I love hamburgers but having good health is more important. Before [the program], I would only want meat and no fruits. My husband is diabetic and so are my mother and brother. I realized I needed to make a change for me and for them.
Q: What types of healthy changes have you made and have you noticed any results?
A: In the morning for breakfast, [my husband and I] used to have tortillas, eggs and beans but now we eat oatmeal, cereal and fruit. For lunch, we’ll have a light meal with veggies or soup. And at night for dinner, nothing too heavy. We also snack every 2 hours to maintain a good metabolism. I noticed that with my husband, it is easier now for him to control his blood-sugar level but these good habits need to continue for him to stay healthy. And once I understood how important eating healthy was, I lost weight—that’s the best part!
Q: It seems like you and your husband have made a lot of positive changes! How do you inspire others to do the same?
A: What’s important is that if you think about your health first, everything else will come after. You don’t need to diet, just eat in moderation. Or just make healthy substitutions. For example, I’ll eat anything but in smaller portions or only during special occasions. So instead of [eating] 2 pieces of sweet bread, only eat 1 piece. And other people can make the same changes! I think you can talk to anyone and tell them how to be healthy but it’s important to make changes that are realistic and that people will believe in.
_
For more information about the programs and organizations discussed in this post, please visit:
- Community Clinic Consortium www.clinicconsortium.org
- 18 reasons www.18reasons.org
- LifeLong Medical Care www.lifelongmedical.org
- The California Endowment www.calendow.org
- Kaiser Permanente East Bay http://mydoctor.kaiserpermanente.org/ncal/facilities/region/eastbay/area_master/home/
Comments