The Ventanilla de Salud program provides health services to Mexican and Latino communities through mobile health clinics organized by Mexican consulates and local health organizations. In 2014, the Kansas City mobile clinic held 8 events screening over 3,750 individuals. Screenings found high rates of obesity, prediabetes, and hypertension. Younger participants had less access to healthcare and lower education. The program aims to improve health access, education, and prevention, especially for common issues found in screenings like diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

1. The Ventanilla de Salud is a health
outreach program implemented
through 52 Mexican consulates in
the United States and local health
organizations.
The program was established to
provide Mexican Latino families re-
siding in the US with bilingual and
culturally relevant health education,
free health screenings, health insur-
ance information, and referrals to
community health services.
In late 2011, the Consulate of Mexi-
co in Kansas City-Missouri, and Jun-
tos signed an agreement to establish
a Ventanilla de Salud Móvil for the
state of Kansas. Since its inception
the mobile Ventanilla has organized
approximately 10 to 12 events eve-
ry year, and continues to foster lo-
cal partnerships to support, plan,
and implement Binational events.
According to the US Census, 11.2%
of the state of Kansas residents are
Latinos, and 84% are of Mexican
origin, and recent immigrants.
The program efforts are mainly tar-
geted at counties with a high per-
centage of Latino residents (up to
57%); which are mainly in Southwest
Kansas, and Northeast regions of the
state. In 2014, our efforts were main-
ly targeted at:
 Improving access to health pre-
vention and promotion
 Implementation of the VDS pedi-
atrics to provide health access
and prevention to all children un-
der the age of 18 years old.
 Foster medical student exchange
program with Mexican Universi-
ties.
 Developing and piloting an online
application for ipads to register
participants on-site, to facilitate
data analysis and data manage-
ment.
INSIDE THIS
ISSUE:
Introduction 1
Ventanilla de
Salud Events
for 2014
2
Ventanilla de
Salud Pediat-
3
2014 Summary
of Findings
4
Community
Health Work-
ers Update
7
Ventanilla de
Salud 2015
Calendar
8
Ventanilla de Salud 2014 Newsletter
Juntos Center for Advancing Latino Health
March 2015

2. 2
Ventanilla de Salud Events
To maintain the close relationship with the com-
munity, the program coordinator Arturo Ponce
based in SW Kansas has developed a strong net-
work of community partners and has participated
in several community-based programs such as;
community health fairs, media campaigns, and out-
reach in hospitals.
In 2014, 8 community health fairs were orga-
nized in Southwest Kansas, in addition to numer-
ous local events occurring in Kansas City, KS
were Juntos participated. The Ventanilla de Salud
team and volunteers provided basic health
screenings, culturally-appropriate educational in-
formation, and referrals to community resources
to approximately 3,750 Latinos.
We continued our efforts with the Affordable
Care Act (ACA) certifying 12 bilingual staff and
volunteers to facilitate enrollment, and education-
al sessions throughout the year. At Binational
Health week we provided continuous health ac-
cess and education to the Latino community. Ap-
proximately, 300 participants benefited from
BHW efforts throughout the state of Kansas.
In 2014, three projects were implemented to
enhance VDS efforts:
1. Soccer event: a great venue to attract Latino
families and provide health educational infor-
mation and access to preventive screenings.
2. Adolescent Reproductive Health: Focus
groups and surveys were administered to La-
tino adolescents ages 15 to 24 to assess re-
productive health resources availability,
knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors about
contraception, and teen pregnancy, and strat-
egies for family planning.
3. AMIGAS Program: an effort to eliminate
disparities in breast cancer among Latina
women by providing culturally sensitive infor-
mation about breast cancer and encourage
mammography screenings.

3. 3
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
Normal Prediabetes Diabetes
74.5%
18.3%
7.2%
Percentage
Finger-stick Glucose
Measurements
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%
Normal
Prehypertension
Hypertension
26.4%
45.3%
28.2%
Percentage
Blood Pressure
Measurements
Normal
21%
Overweight
35%
Obese
44%
Body Mass Index
Community health workers, trained vol-
unteers, and medical students perform
basic health screenings on site to all par-
ticipants. Their weight and height are
measured to calculate BMI, finger-stick
glucose level is measured along with
blood pressure. Classifications were
done following recommended guidelines
by the Center for Disease Prevention
and Control, the American Association
of Diabetes, and the American Heart
Association.
Findings display, 79% of participants are
overweight or obese, 18.3% have pre-
diabetic measurements, and 73% have
pre-hypertension or hypertension blood
pressure values. These findings reassure
the necessity and urgency to implement
culturally sensitive educational programs
on healthy lifestyles, and chronic diseas-
es to reduce the epidemic of obesity,
and prevent the development of chronic
diseases among these young, and under-
served population. With the Affordable
Care Act more Latinos will have access
to medical providers, and preventive
services but without Medicaid expanding
in Kansas many will still remain unin-
sured, therefore continued efforts and
new approaches need to be develop to
create access to health for them.
BasicHealthScreeningNumbers

4. Who Do We Serve?
2014 Summary of Findings
The adult Ventanilla de Salud uses the second generation registration form which collects information on de-
mographics, socioeconomic status, health access, medical history, and basic health screening results for each
participant. In 2014, a total of 1,250 participants attended our health fairs, and completed a registration form.
Below is a summary of the 2014 findings:
Participants are predominantly Spanish-speaking,
and consider themselves Latinos (91%). The rest
of our participants are Mennonites from Mexico,
and refugees from Burma, and middle-eastern
countries. Most participants reside in the state of
Kansas, 20% are from Missouri, Oklahoma, or
Texas.
Of 1,250 health fair participants, the mode age
was 35 years old and participants' ages ranged
from 18 to 75 years old. Participants are asked
about how long they have resided in the US, and
the size of their household. On average partici-
pants have been in the US for 16 years, and the
average household size is 4 members.
Socioeconomic status data states most partici-
pants have less than a high school diploma (57%),
24% have a high school diploma, and only 12%
have a higher education degree. Most households
income is $2,000 or less a month (78.4%).
0
20
40
60
80
1821242730333639424548515457606366697275
Fre
q
u
e
n
cy
Age
Figure 1: Age Distribution
“MostVDS participants were
…Young adults
… Spanish Speakers
… Females
… Mexicans
… Residents of Kansas
… Recent immigrants
… Low socioeconomic status.”
4

5. Healthcare Access & Health Assessment
The registration form contains 13 questions relat-
ed to healthcare access, medical history, and pre-
vention screenings. Of 1,250 health fair partici-
pants, 72.6% don’t have any type of health insur-
ance, and 39.1% stated their last visit with a
healthcare provider was more than 1 year ago.
These findings contribute to the consistent lack of
health care access among underserved Latinos.
As Latinos adjust to their new culture, their prior-
ities change and their health is not one of them.
12.7% of participants stated being diagnosed with
diabetes, and 22% with hypertension but 35% of
them do not take their medication as prescribed.
These findings show the need to continue educat-
ing the community in the importance of healthy
lifestyles for chronic disease care, and manage-
ment.
In relation to preventive care;
 46.8% have never heard of HPV or its vaccine.
 18.5% of women over the age of 21 have not
received a pap smear in the past 3 years.
 29.8% of women over the age of 40 have not
had a mammogram in the past 2 years.
8.5% ...
are current smokers
50.2% ...
are not physically active
12.7%...
have diabetes
22% ...
suffer from high blood pressure
58.6%...
never had an HIV test
67.5%...
Over the age of 50 have never had a co-
lon cancer screening.
0.0%
10.0%
20.0%
30.0%
40.0%
50.0%
Less than 6months 6 months to 1year More than 1year
42.1%
18.7%
39.1%
Percentage(%)
Figure2: LastVisitto a Health Provider
5

6. Ventanilla Pediatrics
With VDS Adults efforts increasing, and recog-
nizing a large lack of health access resources tar-
geted towards Mexican children, Juntos joined
efforts with Children’s Mercy pediatrician Dr.
John Cowden to implement a pilot program fo-
cused on pediatric care. The pilot project focus-
es in five health themes:
 Immunization
 Obesity/Nutrition
 Dental Health
 Reproductive/Sexual Health
 Behavioral/Mental Health
In 2014, the pilot program served more than
200 children (89 families). Preliminary results
show numerous cases of obesity, and malnutri-
tion, as well as lack of access to health services
among children.
An online database was designed to input all par-
ticipants information (family and children) on
demographics, health care access, acculturation,
medical history, attitudes on dental health, nutri-
tion, and mental health. In addition, all children
were measured to obtain BMI, and provided
with immunization, or fluoride treatment if
needed. Most families were given one-on-one
educational sessions on healthy behaviors.
MAIN FINDINGS
 Average age is 8 years
old
 90% of the children are
US born.
 Most families have be-
tween 2 and 4 children
(82%)
 Primary care takers are
mainly parents, and 63%
stated having low English
language proficiency to
none.
 18% of the children don’t
have health insurance
 43% are overweight or
obese
 50% hasn’t been to the
dentist in the last year.

7. Adolescent Reproductive Health
7
Pregnancy rates for Latino teens inWest-
ern Kansas are three times higher than the
rate for white non-Hispanics of the same
age group. Therefore, Juntos joined efforts
with Children's Mercy Adolescent medicine
doctor Romina Barral to develop a pilot
research project on adolescent reproduc-
tive health. The project’s objective is to
better understand the knowledge, atti-
tudes, and behaviors about contraception,
teen pregnancy, sexual activity, and strate-
gies for family planning among rural Latino
adolescents.
The research team developed a 64-
question survey; with questions on de-
mographics, health access, information
about pregnancy risks, and HPV
knowledge. Focus groups were also orga-
nized to have a more in-depth discussion
on areas of interest. Inclusion criteria is
adolescents between the ages of 15 and 24
years old. Up to date, 48 teenagers have
participated in the study with and average
age of 17 years old. There has been an
equal percentage participation among male
and females. All participants are Latinos
and primarily of Catholic doctrine. As the
project continues to grow, the team will
be adding to the preliminary data shown to
the right . These data was presented at
the Society of Adolescent Health and Med-
icine Annual Meeting (Los Angeles, CA)
March 18-21, 2015.
PRELIMINARY
FINDINGS
 35% are sexually active.
 89% declared not receiv-
ing sexual health services
by a doctor or nurse.
 82% have not received
any STD screening in the
past.
 94% do not have pre-
scriptions for birth con-
trol.
 Only 48% have received a
sex education class in the
past.
 30% did not use or is not
sure of the method of
contraception used in
their last sexual inter-
course.

8. March 2015. For more information, please contact Paula Cupertino, Juntos Director, at acupertino@kumc.edu or (913)588-2783
or Liliana Abdualla-Martinez, Research Associate, at labdualla-martinez@kumc.edu or (913)945-7065.
Juntos Promotores de Salud—AMIGAS
Community health workers (CHWs) are front-
line public health workers who have a close
understanding of the community they
serve. This trusting relationship enables
them to serve as a liaison between social ser-
vices and the community to facilitate access to
services and improve the quality and cultural
competence of service delivery.
Juntos goals could not be reach without the
continuous commitment and work from our
trained CHW in Southwest Kansas, and Kansas
City. Throughout the year they continue to
participate in numerous community events
providing basic health screenings, and culturally
sensitive information. They participate in bi-
monthly meetings to receive update of pro-
jects, trainings, and we receive feedback. This
past year the emphasis has been in breast can-
cer awareness, healthy living lifestyles, and
communicable diseases.
In late 2014, Program coordinator Mariana
Ramirez, MSW enhanced the partnership with
the Mid-America Regional Council to pass an
accredited curriculum for CHW with the ulti-
mate goal to obtain state certification for this occu-
pation. Currently, the Metropolitan community col-
lege is offering a CHW certificate in English, and Jun-
tos has partnered with other local agencies to devel-
op the curriculum in Spanish, Juntos’ staff will start
providing classes to Latino women by May 2015.
Catalina Reyes—Promotora de Salud
Catalina is from Veracruz, Mexico. She has being in
Kansas since 2006 and has been a Promotora de Salud
for 9 years. She first volunteered with El Centro, Inc.
and joined Juntos efforts in January 2014. She has be-
ing working in the AMIGAS program, a project to in-
crease awareness about breast cancer among Latina
women in Wyandotte county.
“ I’m a promotora because I love
to inform my fellow community
members about the services and
resources in the area that they
are not aware of. Every day I
learn something new and is re-
warding to help my friends and
family.”