“Campeones de Salud” (Champions for Health) Soccer Tournament and Family Weekend

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In 2006, Benton County held a soccer themed health promotion event to engage Latino men in health care and health screenings.

Due to language and transportation barriers; documentation and insurance status; complex and confusing documents and processes; and fear of using government services, Latinos, particularly Latino men, typically don’t access health care services or participate in health screenings and are burdened by adverse health outcomes.

Linn (8.2% Latino) and Benton (7.0%) counties organized the “Campeones de Salud!” (Champions for Health) event to provide Latino men access to diabetes, vision, dental and hearing screenings while allowing them to have fun playing soccer.

This annual event has grown from 200 people in 2006 to over 2000 people in 2015 and reaches the whole family.

The Latino population in this region grew by 50% from 2000 to 2010 and is expected to increase another 85% by 2020.  In order to prevent and reduce further inequities in access to health care and reduce health disparities, it is important to reduce accessibility barriers for Latino families and provide culturally and linguistically relevant services.

Read more about Campeones de Salud.