Page 154 - Cultural Competence in Health Education

132 Cultural Competence in Health Education and Health Promotion

comprise information that has been collected by an agency, organization, or individual
researchers previously. Government agencies are an important source of such informa-
tion at the national and state level on issues such as population size and distribution, vital
statistics, socioeconomic indicators, epidemiology of diseases, health expenditures, and
health status and risks factors, to mention just the most relevant themes. Examples of
some of the more common sources for these categories of information are the Statistical
Abstract of the United States, the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), the National
Hospital Discharge Survey (NHDS), the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System
(YRBSS), the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), and the Behavioral
Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) (McKenzie et al., 2005).
Some important secondary data that are very helpful for obtaining information about
minority groups and subgroups are not collected or specified by government agencies

but are available from research institutes (such as the UCLA Health Center for Policy
Research and the California Institute for Rural Studies); public foundations (such as the
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the California Endowment, and the Kaiser Founda-
tion), and voluntary health organizations (such as the March of Dimes, the American
Cancer Association, and the American Heart Association). Such organizations have
become an important additional source of information. The case of indigenous Mexicans
from Oaxaca, a subgroup of Mexicans who have migrated massively to California since
the late 1980s, is an illustration of this. Government agencies are not a good source for
information on this population because government data for this group are treated as part
of the data for Hispanics in general. The few studies that have been conducted to assess
the living conditions of indigenous migrants in California have been produced by

researchers affiliated with a nonprofit research center (the California Institute for Rural

Studies) and by scholars affiliated with various universities in California (see Fox and
Rivera - Salgado, 2004, for a good example of this type of research).
Primary data comprise all the information that is collected directly from the target
community through a variety of methodologies, including individual assessments (sur-
veys and Delphi technique) and group assessments (focus groups, nominal groups, and
community forums). Primary data are very valuable, especially when working with
diverse populations, because they provide specific information about the particular

community or group that planners have selected and typically offer insights into socio-
economic characteristics and cultural practices (Doyle & Ward, 2001). The remainder
of this section offers brief descriptions of the main methods of collecting primary data.
Surveys are the preferred method for collecting primary data. Surveys are very
flexible tools and can be conducted through questionnaires, telephone interviews, or

face - to - face interviews. Surveys can be collected through a single contact with each
respondent (cross - sectional) or through a series of questionnaires administered by
phone or e - mail to a group of persons considered “ experts, ” and designed to generate
consensus (Delphi technique). Surveys are a good method not only of getting a clear
picture of the characteristics of the target population and of its priority needs but also
of assessing program delivery preferences (McKenzie et al., 2005). Health education
professionals should be aware that the quality of the information obtained from a

7/1/08 2:54:49 PM
c07.indd 132 7/1/08 2:54:49 PM
c07.indd 132