Government-led pollution prevention programs tend to focus on large businesses due to their potential to pollute larger quantities, therefore leaving a gap in programs targeting small and home-based businesses. In light of this gap, we set out to determine if a voluntary, peer education approach led by female, Hispanic community health workers (promotoras) can influence small and home-based businesses to implement pollution prevention strategies on-site. This paper describes a partnership between promotoras from a non-profit organization and researchers from a university working together to reach these businesses in a predominately Hispanic area of Tucson, Arizona. From 2008 to 2011, the promotora-led pollution prevention program reached a total of 640 small and home-based businesses. Program activities include technical trainings for promotoras and businesses, generation of culturally and language appropriate educational materials, and face-to-face peer education via multiple on-site visits. To determine the overall effectiveness of the program, surveys were used to measure best practices implemented on-site, perceptions towards pollution prevention, and overall satisfaction with the industry-specific trainings. This paper demonstrates that promotoras can promote the implementation of pollution prevention best practices by Hispanic small and home-based businesses considered “hard-to-reach” by government-led programs.

Community health workers (promotores de salud) have the ability to empower communities to mitigate negative health outcomes. Current training efforts in environmental topics are lacking. This project addressed this gap by developing four transferable training modules on environmental health. By applying a series of surveys, interviews, and trainings, we evaluated their relevance. Partners provided favorable feedback for three of the four modules. It was also learned that the development method could be improved by engaging technically trained promotores de salud in the role of co-creators. This project has implications for environmental justice communities as it can lessen information disparities.