Many members of the Hispanic community are separated from the larger community by language barriers and different cultures and belief systems. These factors can affect Hispanic Americans' ability to seek and gain access to the health care system. The Program To Address Sociocultural Barriers to Health Care in the Hispanic Community, known as "Proyecto HEAL," developed and implemented community-based interventions to address sociocultural barriers to health care access. The interventions aimed to (1) identify language and cultural barriers impeding Hispanics' access to health care and inform health care providers about Hispanic health care beliefs; (2) educate Hispanic families about the health care system, its providers, and how to access them; and (3) develop peer education programs for adolescents and pre-adolescents to enable them to promote the value of primary and preventive health care in their communities. All program planning and implementation was carried out by community-based agencies and organizations at seven sites in Denver, Miami, Los Angeles, Chicago, Brooklyn, Watsonville (California), and Albuquerque. As part of its technical assistance, the national program office developed a set of field-tested bilingual materials for Hispanic youth and families and cultural competency materials on preventive health care for health care professionals. Training was delivered to approximately 2,800 youth and family members and 1,000 professionals, and community outreach activities reached larger numbers of youth and families. In addition, Hispanic community-based organizations increased their own effectiveness through involvement with local youth and families and by developing partnerships with local health-related agencies. Detailed descriptions of activities at the seven project sites are included. (SV)