¡Venga Y Relájese! Pilot Stress Reduction Program for Migrant Latina Women Living in Low-Resource Settings From Milwaukee to Lima

Elizabeth S. Abbs, MD; Maebe Brown, MS; Melissa Lemke, MA; Lauren Bauer, MD, MPH; Steve Ohly, RN, NPC; Cynthia Haq, MD

WMJ. 2019;118(1):168-170

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ABSTRACT

Latina women living in low-income communities frequently report a high prevalence of feeling physically and/or emotionally “unwell.” Formative focus groups were used to design a 3-session stress reduction curriculum called ¡Venga y Relájese! (Come and relax yourself!). Survey data from 5 Milwaukee cohorts and 1 Peruvian cohort revealed statistically significant improvements in general health status, perceived stress status, and confidence to manage future stress among women who completed all sessions (n=54). The pilot ¡Venga y Relájese! stress reduction curriculum yielded benefits for Latina women living in low-income neighborhoods in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and Lima, Peru.

Author Affiliations: TRIUMPH (Training in Urban Medicine and Public Health), Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, Wis (Abbs, Bauer, Haq); WISEWOMAN Program, Madison, Wis (Lemke); Center for Urban Population Health, Milwaukee, Wis (Brown, Lemke, Ohly); Aurora Walker’s Point Community Clinic, Milwaukee, Wis (Brown, Lemke, Ohly).
Corresponding Author: Elizabeth Abbs, MD, Department of Internal Medicine, University of California – San Francisco, 500 Parnassus Ave, San Francisco, CA 94143; phone 608.513.9590; e-mail esabbs@gmail.com.
Funding/Support: None declared.
Financial Disclosures: None declared.

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