Solicit Feedback from Your Audience and Partners

This step cannot be overemphasized. Have the item reviewed by the your traffic safety, health communications, and Latino partners to ensure technical accuracy, effectiveness, and cultural appropriateness.

In addition, turn again to the community partners whose input you sought at the outset of the development process. Ask for their help in ensuring that the draft material is appropriate for your target audience. As described in “Step 3: Understand Your Audience,” you should obtain feedback from professionals and community leaders and also, through them, from community residents themselves. To obtain feedback from professionals and local leaders, use a set of structured interviews, surveys, or in-person meetings. To obtain information from community residents who are representative of your target audience, conduct focus groups, sponsor informal pláticas (discussions), or use a simple survey tool at a health fair, a child passenger safety checkpoint (where parents bring their safety seats to be checked for correct installation), a health center waiting room, a shopping mall, etc.

As described in “Step 3: Understand Your Audience,” conduct these groups or surveys yourself, ask your local partner to do so, or hire a marketing or health communications organization with experience in pilot-testing educational material. Some of the questions you may want both professionals and community residents to answer are:

• Is the message clear? What are the main points?
• Is the message relevant for the community?
• What new information is provided? What behavior could it change, and why?
• Is the language appropriate, clear, and respectful? What terms are unclear?
• Are the graphics and design appealing?

Discuss all of the feedback you receive with your national, State, and local partners, and make necessary changes.

It is very important to acknowledge the role of your community partners in creating the material. Consider including your partner organization’s name or individual names on the final material to highlight their participation. This shows respect for your partners and can encourage them, and other Latino organizations, to become more involved in future traffic safety efforts. It also adds credibility, showing that the material was created using input from people who are familiar with the audience. It is a win-win technique for all involved.

Now you have created a final version. Celebrate your accomplishments! Remember to acknowledge all the people who helped create the material.