Social Justice in the Borderlands

How Agenda-setting Theory Might Be Used to Reduce Health Disparities along the U.S./Mexico Border

Abstract

Background and Purpose: Along the U.S./Mexico border, poverty, unemployment, and no to low access to health care is the norm. A primary goal of this article was to discuss a framework based on agendasetting theory to aid community members in getting relevant health care issues on the community “agenda.” To accomplish this, we aimed to better understand the demographics of influential people, or agenda-setters, in the area. Methods: We identified and interviewed 30 agenda-setters in communities on both sides of the U.S./ Mexico border. Health promotion agenda-setting (HPA-S) theories guided our study, and primarily qualitative research methods were utilized to analyzed transcripts taken from individual interviews with. Results: Participants indicated that community members can best advocate for health care resources by creating a shared vision among community members prior to asking for resources- by understanding the priorities of those holding the purse-strings, by framing the community wants within the bounds of those priorities, and by fostering strategic partnerships with influential agenda-setters in their communities. Conclusion: Through application of this framework, community members can increase their social justice by becoming better able to advocate for and obtain needed health care resources.