Although fentanyl and methamphetamine overdoses and deaths dominate headlines, alcohol leads to more deaths than other any single drug. People who are Latinx also are affected by alcohol use disorder, yet their access to treatment is compounded by the intersections of immigration, language, access to care, and a lack of linguistically trained health care providers across all disciplines, including in treatment for substance use disorder.

SPECIALIZED TRAINING

Promotor Program for Education in Drugs and Alcohol for Latine was developed to test a way to help address the provider shortage by focusing on promotors – trusted community members who help educate their peers and provide connections to health and social resources. Promotors were essential in the COVID-19 pandemic response in underserved Latinx communities, and this pilot builds on their unique position as trusted community messengers to assist with the addiction crisis.

In the pilot, 20 promotors working with the Latinx community in San Francisco through various community-based organizations received specialized drug and alcohol education training in Spanish. They learned to recognize and prevent unhealthy drug and alcohol use, educate people with at-risk substance use, communicate about drugs and alcohol, and link people with substance use disorder to evidence-based services and treatment.

KEY ORGANIZATIONS

The pilot was developed by the Latinx Center of Excellence at the UCSF School of Medicine in partnership with San Francisco community-based organizations. Co-design partners include:

• Mission Economic Development Agency
• Promotoras Activas San Francisco
• Dolores Street Community Services
• Mission Graduates
• Good Samaritan Family Resource Center
• National Harm Reduction Coalition