Talking fotonovelas to improve health knowledge, attitudes and practices among community dwelling older African Americans

African Americans and other minority populations suffer disproportionately from diabetes and hypertension compared with their white counterparts. A large proportion of health education and promotion utilize print materials written at the 10th grade level and above. This project addressed the Healthy People 2010 objectives of using communication strategically to improve health and reduce health disparities. Research indicates that even after targeted health communication interventions, low-education and low-income groups remain less knowledgeable and are the least likely to change behavior. Many older adults who are most at risk for poor health outcomes are members of underserved populations comprised of racial and ethnic minorities with low socioeconomic status (SES)and minimal education. These underserved populations have little access to information over the internet. This project assessed the efficacy of talking fotonovelas to enhance diabetes and high blood pressure knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) among older urban African Americans. The PI designed, culturally validated, and tested the efficacy of a computer driven ‘Talking Fotonovela', based on the entertainment medium akin to comic books, photographs and simple dialogue bubbles as an educational intervention. Participants were educated about behaviors conducive to prevention and self management of diabetes. In addition, prototypes of Talking Fotonovelas were developed to use in health education with low SES African Americans. Policy implications and social justice issues will be discussed.