On this page clinic staff will share the successes, large and small, which make our work worthwhile. Names have been changed to protect the innocent. This page will change periodically, so check back. 

Telling The Rosas Family Story

The Latino Health Promotion Project has achieved extraordinary things. It is very gratifying to know that people with a chronic disease, like Senor Roberto Rosas (a fictitious name to protect the privacy of our patient) and his family have been able to improve their conditions and positively change their way of life. For Mr. Rosas, it has not been easy to manage his diabetes, especially for a person with scarce economic resources. Since the beginning of this project, we have put a lot of energy into helping our Latino community by motivating patients like Roberto to continue to make positive changes to manage their illnesses.

Roberto is 53 years old and has lived with diabetes for more than 22 years. He has told us that he had no concept of “healthy” in the past. He resisted accepting that he was living with a serious illness that requires a lot of care. His diabetes was out of control. He had seen a few doctors, but without positive results. About three years ago, he thought “I need to do something to change.” He came to visit Doctor Ring for the first time and began to learn more about his condition.

At first it was very hard for him to give up eating some of the foods that he loves. His wife, Isabel, said that she makes tortillas everyday for her family, and Roberto would eat a minimum of eight with every meal. She also said that when she would put any vegetable on “Berto’s” plate, he would play with it but never eat it. “Vegetables are for farm animals,” he would tell her.

Roberto is now a man completely capable of understanding the term “healthy.” Despite three surgeries on his eyes due to the complications of diabetes, he has not given up. He has greatly improved his blood sugar and cholesterol levels, which are both now in the normal range. The entire family has improved their eating and exercise habits, and work to share their knowledge with the greater community.

Through the project, we invited the Rosas family to help with our monthly Diabetes Support Groups. Now, Roberto and Isabel help with these groups without ever missing a month. They also have helped with our Chronic Disease Self-Management classes. As in-home childcare providers, the Rosas family encourages every child and family who comes in their home to lead a healthier life, and they openly share their own knowledge and experience.

Roberto recently had to travel to his home state of Oaxaca because of a family emergency, and has been unable to return home because of financial reasons and immigration status. Roberto maintains a very positive attitude and refuses to give up, despite the families meager resources. Isabel continues to help with our groups every month. With the help of our project and the support of his wife, Roberto continues to maintain control of his illness. He hopes to return soon to reunite with his family and also to resume helping our project, like we have been able to help him. He has told us that he will always be grateful for what the project has given him, and that the LHPP project has not just changed his life, but saved his life.

Who’s got the chart?

We all do! After 4 years of effort, we now have a mobile electronic health record (EHR) and a unified electronic system for data collection and reporting.  Our EHR works in the field at sites without internet connections and updates the central database daily. It gives members of our clinical teams on-the-spot access to the information they need to provide quality coordinated care.  Our EHR also generates quality assurance reports, patient recalls, and age, sex, and diagnosis specific reminders for chronic disease management and preventive care. We are using the system at all of our sites and expect to be completely paperless in the New Year.