DENVER — By 8 a.m. on a recent Saturday, Vuela for Health’s office in Denver’s Cole neighborhood was already buzzing with people there to learn if they should be worried about their hearts.
The Colorado Prevention Center’s Community Heart Health Actions for Latinos At-Risk, or CHARLAR, program targets Spanish speakers in the Denver area. It involves a baseline screening of risk factors for heart disease and diabetes, weekly classes about ways to reduce risk, and a follow-up to measure progress at the end of the 12-week program.
Diane Medina, a community health worker who has been involved in CHARLAR for 18 years, was taking pinprick blood samples that Saturday to test for high blood sugar and cholesterol. She said the staff teaching the classes are “relentless” in recruiting people and making sure they show up for all 11 sessions, and that most participants see benefits they can build on.
