Living with diabetes involves more than managing blood sugar. Stress can affect emotional well-being and make it harder to care for your health. During this interactive webinar, Migrant Clinicians Network will introduce My Health Is My Treasure: Embracing Life with Diabetes, a comic book that uses language and images that are culturally relevant to agricultural worker communities. As an educational tool, it supports conversations about stress, emotional well-being, and living with diabetes.
During this webinar, participants will learn about the connection between diabetes and stress and explore practical strategies featured in the comic book. Community health workers will also share how they have used My Health Is My Treasure: Embracing Life with Diabetes in community pláticas, what they learned from their experiences, and considerations for incorporating it into community health education.
Presenters
Pamela Secada-Sayles, EdD, MPH
Pamela is a Senior Program Manager for the Mental Health and Well-being team at Migrant Clinicians Network. She earned her Doctor of Education in Organizational Change and Leadership from the University of Southern California, her Master’s in Public Health from the University of California, Los Angeles, and her Bachelor’s in Anthropology and Chicana/o Studies from California State University, Fullerton. Her doctoral research focused on examining organizational and leadership practices that impacted employee well-being during the pandemic.
Alma Galvan, MHC
Alma Galván, MHC, is the Director of Community Engagement and Worker Training with MCN. Galván has over three decades of experience in public health work in the United States, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and Latin America. Throughout her career, she has addressed a wide range of topics, including community development, environmental and occupational health, disaster response, occupational health and safety, substance use and abuse prevention, and access to safe water and sanitation. Galván has a strong track record in creating educational materials and curricula tailored for people with limited English proficiency or low literacy levels. Galván has also provided technical assistance and training to promotores de salud, community health workers, health professionals, health educators, and clinicians. She has collaborated extensively with MCN partners, community-based organizations, health agencies, and state and local health departments, always with a commitment to placing communities at the center of health promotion efforts.
Marizza Patino
Ana Marizza Patiño holds a degree in Business Administration and is a community health worker with experience in the commercial, educational, and health sectors. Since 2021, she has served as the coordinator of the Ventanilla de Salud at the Mexican Consulate in Del Río, Texas, supporting communities in Val Verde, Pecos, and Terrell counties. Through community partnerships, she coordinates workshops, health fairs, and preventive health services, and participates in initiatives such as Radz Kids and the Del Río Cancer Taskforce.
Mirtala Barron
Mirtala Barrón holds a degree in Business Administration and is a certified community health worker in Texas, with 17 years of experience at the Ventanilla de Salud in Eagle Pass. She has been a part of MCN since 2021 and served as a coordinator, providing education, guidance, and preventive services to migrant communities. She also collaborates with various local coalitions and organizations, strengthening partnerships to offer binational support and promote access to healthcare.
Yolanda Rodríguez
Yolanda is a community health worker and psychologist with six years of experience in each field. She recently completed her studies in Family and Human Development. She currently collaborates with a religious organization on suicide prevention and providing support during the grieving process following the loss of a loved one, promoting the emotional well-being of individuals and families.
Claudia Cervantes
As a community health worker, Claudia's primary goal is to provide families in her community with information and the necessary means to improve their physical, mental, and legal well-being.
Watch the Webinar Recording
At the conclusion of the presentation, participants will be able to:
- Describe the relationship between diabetes, stress, and emotional well-being.
- Describe how My Health Is My Treasure: Embracing Life with Diabetes can be used as an educational tool in community pláticas and other community-based settings.
- Identify practical approaches for using the comic book in their own work, informed by the experiences of CHWs who used the resource with community members.
