Salud Para Usted y Su Familia (SPUSF)

The Southwest Institute for Health Disparities Research (SWIHDR) at New Mexico State University has been gaining recognition throughout southern New Mexico for its work on this USDA-AFRI-funded initiative to prevent childhood obesity. Salud Para Usted y Su Familia [Health for You and Your Family] (SPUSF) is a multi-site, 5-year project being conducted in border communities in Arizona, New Mexico and Texas.

The New Mexico SWIHDR team is composed of faculty, staff and students from the Colleges of Health and Social Services; Agriculture, Evironmental and Consumer Sciences; Business; and Arts and Sciences. The goal of SPUSF is to lay groundwork for family- and community-based interventions to reduce sedentary activity, increase physical activity, and improve diet among Mexican heritage children between the ages of 7 and 11 years.

Promotoras de salud are critical staff on the SPUSF research team due to their deep knowledge of border communities and their ability to serve as community liaisons. SPUSF in New Mexico has created Community Advisory Boards that include community members and stakeholders from groups such as the Southern New Mexico Community Health Workers Committee, Chaparral Improvement Group, Parents in Action, and Village of Columbus City Hall Community Members.

Currently in its fourth year of funding, SPUSF has conducted environmental assessments of food venues and spaces for physical activity, discussion groups, or pláticas, with mothers and children, and surveys of mothers and fathers in participating communities. This information will be used to develop future interventions. In year 5, program accomplishments will be evaluated and successful elements will be integrated into education and Extension activities throughout the state. The SWIHDR team looks forward to working with southern New Mexico community partners through the completion of SPUSF and future projects to improve health equity in border communities.

This study is funded, in part, by the US Department of Agriculture–National Institute of Food and Agriculture’s Agriculture and Food Research Initiative, grant no. 2015-68001-23234.

SPUSF Education Modules

SPUSF Presentations

• SPUSF Community Results Presentation

  • Community Advisory Board (CAB) Meetings

    • December 3rd, 2018 / Columbus, NM / Community Center

    • December 4th, 2018 / Chaparral, NM / Betty McKnight Community Center

  • The NMSU team hosted two Community Advisory Board (CAB) meetings and presented an overview of the SPUSF project including the purpose, process, and findings of the first portion of pláticas analysis for each research area. Presentations included future steps to and plans for analysis, as well as ways in which community members can best utilize current data to write grants, build interventions, and disseminate information. Attendees were interested in the application of results, how best to develop funding opportunities for community projects, mobilizing interventions, emboldening community champions, as well as keeping up to date with the progress of the SPUSF program.

SPUSF Publications