Institutional Effects on Early Palliative Care among Mexican-Heritage Elders

This paper addresses Mexican-heritage older people’s experiences with early palliative care (EPC). EPC is the early provision of medical, social and spiritual reports to relieve suffering. Empirically, Mexican-heritage older people are known to have less access to EPC and, when they access it, to receive care of lower quality. However, little work has explored how Mexican-heritage older people think about and access such care. The paper addresses this gap. Methods are longitudinal: 36 Mexican-heritage people ranging in age from 55 to 90 years completed longitudinal semi-structured qualitative interviews, for a total of 69 interviews. Results explore how respondents’ participation in social institutions may mediate the effects of larger social structural constraints on their health and access to care.

Designing for Multilevel Behavior Change: A Father-Focused Nutrition and Physical Activity Program for Mexican-Heritage Families in South Texas Border Communities

Fathers significantly influence family functioning, as coparents and partners, and must be part of family-based approaches to behavioral health interventions or programs. But little is known regarding how to support Latino fathers in health promotion within their family systems, specifically for Latino families living in border communities. Program development was embedded in a larger community-based grant and part of a longstanding academic-community collaboration. An interdisciplinary research team applied theories related to health behavior, family systems, behavior change, and community engagement to develop a father-focused and family-centered behavioral program for Mexican-heritage fathers and children living near the Texas-Mexico border to support changes in nutrition and physical activity at the individual and family levels. Promotoras de salud (trained community health workers) delivered the program through group sessions, check-in calls, and at-home activities. Group session activities were designed to engage family triads and dyads using experiential education related to nutrition and physical activity, like cooking lessons and active play, over a six-week period. Future research can use the program approach and curricula as a roadmap for designing context-specific and culturally-relevant programs for Latino families. Additional research is needed to explore how approaches like this can support families and their health goals.

Maternal Perceptions of Physical Activity Spaces for Children in Texas Border colonias

This study examined differences in mother-reported physical activity (PA) and screen time (ST) based on child sex and mothers’ perceptions of PA resources for Mexican-heritage (MH) children residing in Texas-Mexico border colonias. Mothers with children 8 to 10 years old ( n = 335) from colonias in south Texas reported if there were places for their child to be physically active and their child’s hours of PA and ST per day during the week and weekend. Two-way ANCOVAs examined differences in child PA and ST based on presence of PA places and child sex. Only 46.0% of mothers ( n = 159) reported places for their child to be physically active; with no significant difference based on sex. Mothers’ perceptions of a place to play was differentially beneficial for girls’ weekday PA and ST. Findings suggest a need to increase perceived and/or actual access to PA places in colonias communities, particularly for girls.

¿Qué Pasa Con Papá? Exploring Paternal Responsibilities and Physical Activity in Mexican-Heritage Families

Mexican-heritage children often achieve less physical activity (PA) than their counterparts and are at greater risk for associated comorbidities. Child PA is greatly influenced by their parents, yet researchers have rarely involved fathers in community health promotion. The purpose of this study is to examine Mexican-heritage fathers’ perceptions of responsibilities and self-reported activities. Promotoras recruited fathers (n = 300) from colonies on the Texas–Mexico border and administered Spanish-language surveys including paternal responsibilities, father PA, and PA co-participation. Two researchers coded responses. Open-ended items were coded and cross-tabulations between responsibilities and activities with children were examined. Fathers reported feeling monetary responsibilities most often. Fathers reported engaging in more activities with their sons than daughters; however, fathers engaged in very few activities specifically with their children. Feeling responsible for family expenses was associated with paternal PA co-participation with family and children. This study adds clarity to the role of Mexican-heritage fathers in child PA. Findings highlight potential areas for intervention including supporting fathers to take an active role in their children’s PA.

Connecting Funds of Knowledge to Funds of Identity through a Bilingual Multimodal Project-Based Approach

This study analyzed how bilingual multimodal projects that children and families from Mexican immigrant backgrounds created together facilitated expressions of their funds of knowledge and funds of identity as part of classroom instruction. Twenty-two students and their families participated creating biliteracy family projects that integrated their lives, experiential knowledge and bilingualism into classroom learning in their first-grade bilingual classroom in a U.S. school. Drawing from a sociocultural theoretical lens informed by funds of knowledge, funds of identity and multimodal social semiotics perspectives, children’s projects depicted their transnational experiences and their close family networks of support as important funds of knowledge in their lives. Findings illustrate how children internalized these experiences as funds of identity, which included their self-expressions and identity constructions that asserted 1) their Mexican heritage and cultural simultaneity, 2) their roles to maintain family ties and contribute to the family’s well-being, and 3) their future selves and aspirations. A culturally sustaining project-based approach toward inviting and integrating children’s funds of knowledge and funds of identity can afford pedagogical advances that also foster family collaboration and challenge deficit ideologies by illuminating the depth and richness of children’s experiences, and how these are incorporated to construct their identities.