BienESTAR
Environmental Social Transborder Action Research
Mission Statement
BienESTAR is a research collaborative working at the intersection of research, education, and service based at San Diego State University. The word bienestar, meaning wellness in Spanish, exemplifies our commitment to promoting health and preventing disease among marginalized communities. The acronym represented in the word signifies our commitment to understanding and addressing social and environmental factors impacting communities throughout the US-Mexico border region. This research collaborative seeks to positively impact health outcomes by engaging community members and multisector stakeholders in participatory action research that builds evidence aimed at improving environments, socioeconomic conditions, healthcare access, and overall socio-structural factors.
Objectives
- To help further build the volume of evidence surrounding the environmental and social factors that impact health outcomes in the US-Mexico Border Region
- Engage binational, transborder, and local community members in action research centered decreasing health disparities and improving access to health care
Approach
- Maximizing access and outreach through our BienESTAR Movil: Our mobile unit seeks to engage community members through participatory action research centered within community spaces. Through our mobile unit, we are able to outreach at community events, worksite visits, health fairs, outdoor markets, and community gathering points. Our mobile unit has the capacity to conduct disease-specific specific and social screenings, environmental monitoring, biological markers collection, and health promotion activities.
- Cooperative multisector research collaboration and community building:
Meet the Team
Dr. Benjamin Aceves
[email protected]
Dr. Aceves’ health services research centers around building equity within health care delivery to address chronic disease disparities. His research focuses on developing interventions that address individual-, organizational, and system-level factors contributing to health disparities through partnering with clinics, government, and community organizations. He has previously and continues to work with Latina, Latine, Latinx, and Latino communities located throughout the border region. He is particularly interested in conducting mixed-methods research on topics related to diabetes, social care within clinical settings, implementation science, and health equity among diverse populations.
Dr. Nicolas Lopez-Galvez
[email protected]
Dr. Nicolas Lopez-Galvez is an Assistant Professor in Environmental Health at the School of Public Health. He has over a decade of experience evaluating environmental exposures to carcinogens such as pesticides and tobacco-related pollutants among underserved populations, including low-wage immigrant workers, farm workers, children, and those who live near the U.S.-Mexico border region. He utilizes innovative and non-invasive exposure assessment tools in field studies to monitor carcinogens in occupational and community-based settings to better understand their effects on human health. His experience as first-generation Latino immigrant in the U.S. has influenced his commitment towards addressing environmental justice issues and health disparities in minority populations. He received his Bachelor’s degree in Biology from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), his Masters in Public Health in Environmental Health and Masters of Arts in Latin American Studies at SDSU. Dr. Lopez-Galvez obtained his PhD from the University of Arizona with a focus in Environmental and Occupational Health.
