Use Culturally Appropriate Format and Graphics

Combine your knowledge of your audience with principles of effective health communication. Consider pictures and other graphics that will be appealing and compelling and a format (e.g., video or posters) that will adequately convey your message. Your resources, target audience, and topic will dictate the format of your material.

For sources of information on effective health communication, see Appendix B, Step 6.

The following formats have been effective with Latino audiences:

Materials that have English and Spanish text side by side: Some readers enjoy these because they provide an opportunity to practice English-reading skills. In addition, members of a family might be at different levels of learning English; a bilingual material could be relevant for more people in the same family.

Methods of portraying people: Choose faces that look like those of the target audience, faces of people in the community whom the target audience knows and respects (e.g., a religious or community leader), popular celebrities (but make sure that the celebrities practice the intended traffic safety behavior), and photographs of real people rather than drawings.

Images of scenes and activities that are familiar to the audience: For example, images of soccer, a popular sport in Latin America, may be more appealing to your audience than images of American football.

Sensitivity in use of graphics: Make sure that the graphics are respectful and do not portray negative images, such as driving under the influence of alcohol or other drugs.

Inclusive graphics: If the whole family is being targeted, don’t forget to include grandparents in your images. Many Latinos live in extended families, and grandparents may be the primary caregivers for young children.

Radio: Radio can help you reach a broad audience at relatively low cost.
Radio has many benefits—and also some inherent challenges, specifically, which Spanish dialect you want the speaker to use. Different dialects are spoken in different countries and different regions of the same country; hence Latinos of diverse origins use a variety of dialects and pronunciations. If your audience is from a specific country, you will probably want someone from that community as the radio voice. Also, consider what station you want to play your message, what time of day, and on what program.

Fotonovelas: Fotonovelas are comic books that use photos of real people. They have been used in many public-health campaigns to reach Latino immigrants with low literacy (LCAT and Midwest Latino Health Research 2001; Moreno 2005). For an example of a fotonovela, developed by the WEST group, see appendix E.

Examples of Materials That Use Appropriate Format and Graphics

“A todos nos gusta reunirnos con amigos. Pero piensa en las consecuencias.” (2003)

This fotonovela was developed by Mecklenburg Safe Communities and the Carolinas Center for Injury Prevention and Control. A poster version is also available. This public awareness campaign exemplifies the use of culturally appropriate graphics. Each page of the booklet contains a photo of real people who look like the intended audience and a sentence describing what is pictured. The characters’ dress and appearance are realistic. The photos clearly tell the story of what can happen when you drink and drive. This material is appropriate for audiences with low literacy, because the pictures alone show the consequences of driving under the influence.

“5 Preguntas/5-Step Test; Para determinar si su hijo debería usar un asiento ‘booster’” (2003)

This two-sided bilingual card was developed by the California State Automobile Association, which got the information from SafetyBeltSafe U.S.A. It has an easy-to-read format that gives the audience clear instructions. This material asks parents yes-or-no questions to help them determine whether their children need to ride in a booster seat, for example:

• “Does your child sit all the way back against the auto seat?”
  
  
• “Do the child’s knees bend comfortably at the edge of the auto seat?”
  
  
• “Does the belt cross the shoulder between the neck and the arm?”

“Abrocha tu vida” (2003)

This public service announcement (PSA) or radionovela (a story with short episodes to be played on the radio) is broken up into eight sixty-second episodes. The material was developed in Spanish by the Car Safety for Latino Children Coalition of the Harborview Injury Prevention and Research Center in Seattle, Washington. It exemplifies several of the recommendations in these Guidelines: (1) it was created in Spanish rather than translated from English, (2) its format is innovative, and (3) it emphasizes key points in an appealing manner. Each episode talks about the importance of using safety belts and child safety seats. The episodes are designed as a series involving the same family members who learn about child safety seats and, in turn, teach their family and friends. At the end of each episode, a catchy and positive jingle is played to reinforce the safety message: “Abrocha tu vida, abrocha el corazón, abróchalos es por protección.” The rough word-for-word English translation is “Buckle your life, buckle your heart, buckle them up, it is for their protection.”¹ Unlike the Spanish jingle, the English translation does not rhyme and therefore is less catchy.

The radio PSA is an innovative format that reaches Latinos at all literacy levels, and the importance of child passenger safety is emphasized repeatedly throughout the several episodes, which can help listeners retain the message.

¹ English translation by EST staff.