DEFINING CULTURALLY APPROPRIATE COMMUNITY INTERVENTIONS - HISPANICS AS A CASE-STUDY

This article proposes three components that are needed in order to dev elop communitywide change interventions that are culturally appropriat e or group-specific. The basis for the development of targeted group-s pecific interventions is the quickly accumulating evidence that shows that ethnic and/or racial groups differ in terms of their cultural val ues, norms, expectancies, and attitudes. These differences predicate t he notion that in order to be effective, community interventions need to take into consideration the specific characteristics of the group b eing targeted. Culturally appropriate community interventions are defi ned, therefore, as meeting each of the following characteristics: (a) The intervention is based on the cultural values of the group, (b) the strategies that make up the intervention reflect the subjective cultu re (attitudes, expectancies, norms) of the group, and (c) the componen ts that make up the strategies reflect the behavioral preferences and expectations of the group's members. The implications of this definiti on for the development of a culturally appropriate intervention for Hi spanics are also discussed.