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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Kristy A. Siegel, MPH, CHES, University of South Florida, 14220 SW 34th Street, Miami, FL 33175, 305-498-1940, ksiegelapha@hotmail.com

The aim of this presentation is to allow insight into the extent to which being linguistically-isolated affects the health of Haitian immigrants and to develop the skills necessary to expand current health brochures to include Haitian-Creole populations. Many of the current health brochures being produced and disseminated in the United States comprise the two most common languages – English and Spanish. However, one population that is in need of culturally and linguistically appropriate materials is Haitian immigrants, a rapidly growing population in many cities across America. Because of the lack of a unified written language, researchers wishing to develop Haitian-Creole materials face a daunting task. Using cases from the Haitian communities within and around the City of Miami (Florida), examples will be shown to illustrate the steps necessary to create translated materials for Haitian immigrants. One such activity was to develop an educational lead poisoning prevention flyer using focus groups from within Little Haiti, a community in the City of Miami. Another activity was the creation of a Haitian-Creole to English / English to Haitian-Creole health dictionary of common words that could be used in brochures. Throughout each activity, it was paramount to always include the community residents in the process of translation and back-translation to ensure proper word usage and grammar for our population.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of this session, participants will be able to

• Discuss the effect language and culture have on the health of linguistically isolated populations; and
• Identify common words in Haitian-Creole that could be used in health education materials.

Keywords: Health Communications, Health Literacy

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Not Answered