247215 Salir Adelante: Promoting Latino Mental Health Through a Fotonovela

Monday, October 31, 2011

Maria Elena Campisteguy , Metropolitan Group, Washington, DC
Data suggests that one in five Latinos is likely to experience major depression in their lifetimes. But, because of stigma, language barriers and other challenges, fewer than one in 11 of these Latinos is likely to seek treatment from a mental health specialist. So, the County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency engaged Metropolitan Group to develop, design, publish, distribute and evaluate a fotonovela to educate Latinos on the subject of mental health, and to provide guidance on how to seek treatment. Commonly used with Latino audiences, fotonovelas feature photographs of real people and dialogue to tell a story that communicates a powerful health promotion message in an engaging, entertaining and informative way. In the course of the project, Metropolitan Group conducted focus groups with the general public and engaged a steering committee with local mental health experts and Latino mental health consumers. The workshop will examine the unique challenge of promoting mental health among Latinos, and describe how engagement with the priority audience was integral throughout the project, from development of strategy to creative design. The workshop will also explore how a unique distribution plan maximized reach into the Latino community.

Learning Areas:
Communication and informatics
Diversity and culture
Planning of health education strategies, interventions, and programs

Learning Objectives:
Identify the unique challenges associated with promoting mental health for Latino audiences. Describe how formative research informed the development of the project's strategy and creative. Explain how social marketing theory was applied to the fotonovela project.

Keywords: Latino, Mental Health

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am a partner in the agency contracted by the County of San Diego to design, implement and evaluate the fotonovela project.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.