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The researchers studied motivating factors of Latinas studying at a university extended campus. Using mixed-methods, the following research question was investigated: What cultural, familial, and financial factors motivate Latinas to pursue a bachelor's degree at a rural border extended campus? Study participants were Latina family studies students attending an extended campus of a university within a southwestern rural border community. Findings yielded familial factors to have the greatest impact on motivations, followed by financial factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose. To test the effectiveness of ¡Vamos a Caminar! (Let's Walk!), an intervention for Mexican-American women living in economically disadvantaged, poorly urbanized areas in the South Texas border region. Design. This was a nonexperimental, one-group, pretest and posttest intervention with a duration of 12 weeks. Setting. The intervention was conducted in Hidalgo County, Texas, 1 of the 10 poorest, counties in the. United States, located at the border with Mexico. Participants resided in areas known as colonias, which are unincorporated and impoverished settlements along the border where many people live in trailers or self-built houses and lack basic services. Subjects. Spanish-speaking Mexican-American women (n = 16) 18 years of age and older. Intervention. The program was home-based, culturally sensitive, theoretically driven, and facilitated by community health workers. Measures. Changes in walking levels, depressive symptoms, and stress levels were assessed. Analysis. Descriptive statistics and the Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed-ranks test were used. Results. A majority of participants were unemployed, had low levels of education, were born in Mexico, and were obese. After exposure to the program, the participants reported a significant increase in walking (915.8 metabolic, equivalent min/wk; p = . 002) and lower depressive symptoms (p = . 055) and stress level scores (p = .017). Conclusions. Culturally sensitive programs promoting walking in underserved, minority populations are promising in reducing physical activity disparities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we attempt to map out the “in-between” space between global and cultural narratives that mediates women's educational trajectories. Case studies of women living on the U.S.-Mexico border make visible these spaces, sites of “practices of emergence”: the practices that emerge from incommensurable economic demands and social prescriptions and produced in the act of social survival. In negotiating both global and cultural narratives, materially and ideologically, the occupants and ideas that inhabit these spaces are in constant flux, resulting in the reformulation of the notions of mothering, pedagogy, and place, resulting in variable educational outcomes for women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To examine personal and environmental correlates of exercise among Mexican Americans living in the Texas-Mexico border region. Methods: The study was based on data from a community health assessment conducted in 2 counties at the Texas-Mexico border region. A random-digit-dialed community survey was used in this cross-sectional study (n=933). Results: A majority of border Mexican Americans (5 2%) did not exercise at all. Gender, age, and self-rated health were statistically significant correlates to exercise. Conclusions: Understanding personal and environmental factors that influence physical activity and exercise in this minority population is critical for the development of culturally sensitive health interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]