Culturally Tailoring a Physical Activity Program for Hispanic Women: Recruitment Successes of La Vida Buena's Salsa Aerobics

Abstract Community collaboration for culturally tailoring a physical activity program for Hispanic women resulted in the creation of the Salsa Aerobics program. The program successfully recruited 487 participants who were primarily low to moderate income, Spanish speaking, and sedentary. A community coalition was formed, and interviews, focus groups, and community forums were used to shape the program. Lay health advisors, or promotores, were trained to assist in recruitment and program implementation. An analysis of enrollment questionnaires revealed that referral from friends was the most successful recruitment method, with significantly more sedentary participants being referred by friends, medical providers, and family than by other methods, such as media and outreach (p ≤ 0.01). Collaboration between academic groups and community groups is encouraged to increase numbers of members of underserved groups in health promotion research.