Talents, Tears, Stories of Our Identities, and Community Building: Toward Community-Based Ecosystems of Latiné Health Driven by <i>Promotores</i>.

Abstract

This essay describes a process for integrating US Latiné communities as drivers of a grassroots vision for healthy Latiné communities and health equity planning that addresses racial injustices. Transforming structural conditions to promote Latiné community health happens alongside creating conditions for community-level self-determination to foster community-based ecosystems of health. Integrating a life course perspective, we describe a vision for community-based ecosystems of Latiné health that is rooted in forging connections and cultivating community; building community power to address structural drivers of health; leveraging the expertise and assets of <i>promotores</i> to reach, engage, and mobilize communities; scaling solutions through policy, system, and environment changes; and grounding research processes in community-driven priorities. Such processes must affirm the expertise of <i>promotores</i> and Latiné communities and recognize the interconnectedness of communities and systems (e.g., food, housing, living wages) to nurture health at local levels. Research can advance the science and evidence-based models that support community-based ecosystems of Latiné health. (<i>Am J Public Health</i>. 2024;114(S6):S525-S533. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2024.307763) [Formula: see text].