Use of radio dramas to reduce unintended pregnancies in Latina and African American women

Small, minority population groups often do not seek or have access to mainstream health information channels. Radio serial dramas can provide health education through embedding - messages in entertaining media. Radio serials were developed for Latina (http://www.lanochetedasorpresas.com/) and African American (AA) audiences (http://www.queenstreetradio.com/). Separate, but parallel, community-based processes were used to develop the dramas, including working with community advisors and community-based formative research leading to the development of an episode guide that directed the writers on the health messaging objectives for each episode. The AA drama aired on seven radio stations and the Latina drama on five Spanish-language stations. Most stations followed the airing of each episode with a call-in show. Community partners (AA = 30, Latina = 45) across the state including health services organizations, churches, and small businesses distributed CD sets (AA = 3,000, Latina = 6,000) of the complete program. Evaluation included intercept interviews (AA = 417, Latina = 468). Of those interviewed, 17.7% had heard of the AA drama; 44.3% had heard of the Latina drama. Interview data indicate that most women were knowledgeable about the need for contraception, but many thought effective methods were expensive. The percentage of Latina women reporting not knowing where to get contraceptives that fit their budget was lower after the program was launched compared to before the program began (3.4% vs 15.4%). The presentation will compare the process and outcomes of these two interventions and highlight the successes and lessons-learned.