Neighborhood-centered disease prevention programs have become a growing means of introducing baccalaureate nursing students to health care systems. This article reports diabetes and cardiovascular clinical outcomes and health behavior changes made following a 2-year baccalaureate community/public health clinical project and partnership with an urban Hispanic neighborhood. This pilot study used a pretest-posttest design without comparators. The healthy lifestyle consisted of health coaching, physical activity, and lifestyle modification. Thirty-eight women completed the 12-week program. Results revealed significant reductions in diabetes and cardiovascular total risk scores, glycated hemoglobin, body mass index, and physical activity (α = 0.05). Students gained learning opportunities in research and public health competencies, while providing clinical practice, research, and scholarship opportunities for nurse educators. Insights from these programs can help faculty, students, and communities identify new approaches that are consistent with the National Prevention Strategy and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to improve diabetes and cardiovascular outcomes among Hispanic women.

BackgroundLow-income women of predominantly Hispanic ethnicity between the ages of 50–74 who receive primary care services in a South Texas region experienced a 12% disparity gap for women completing a screening mammogram in the last 2 years when compared to Hispanic women nationally.ObjectiveThe purpose of this quality improvement (QI) initiative is to design and implement interdisciplinary evidence-based interventions to improve the screening mammogram completion rates in a primary care clinical setting.MethodsFollowing a systematic review and selection of two evidence-based breast cancer risk screening tools, a pre-post intervention was conducted. The Knowledge-to-Action (KTA) framework was used to train staff and providers to implement the screening tools. The Breast Cancer Risk Assessment Tool (BCRAT) and the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) provided triggers for initiating a screening mammogram.ResultsEvidence-based screenings triggered mammogram initiation resulting in a 7.21% improvement in screening mammogram completion rates over a 3-month time period.Conclusion/Implications for NursingThe outcomes discussed in this report provide guidance for new policy considerations and clinical protocol initiatives along with processes to improve mammogram completion rates.

Studies exploring the influence of grandparent presence and involvement in the lives of Latino children in the US are sparse. This study explored grandparent presence in Latino families in South Texas and its effect on child BMI and family health behaviors to extend our understanding of their potential to enhance child obesity interventions in this growing, at-risk population.