Improving Latinx knowledge and acceptance of preventative health: a community-centered ethnic media public health communication randomized control trial

The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated underlying inequities in health and health care facing Latinos: Latinos were twice as likely to be hospitalized, less likely to receive COVID-19 vaccinations, and more likely to experience disruptions to preventative cancer screenings. Latinos endure multiple adverse social determinants of health that act as barriers to preventative health care use, including, among others, residential segregation, limited access to material resources, and limited English proficiency. The media environments available to Latinos, especially to Spanish-speaking Latinos, contribute to reinforcing these barriers. Many Latinos live in news deserts. Limited access to high quality information and the flourishment of misinformation compounds issues of access to preventative health care. Evidence-based knowledge about how public health communication is delivered to Latinos, especially Spanish-speaking Latinos, is necessary to improve their adherence to guideline concordant preventative health care.

Our own work suggests that community-centered ethnic media outlets (CCEMOs) can significantly improve the information quality available to Latinos, with real impact on their self-efficacy and knowledge, including of COVID-19-related health measures. Yet, their impact on Latinos’ use of preventative health care, such as vaccination and cancer screening is less clear.

This project builds on our previous work by partnering with three CCEMOs serving Spanish-speaking immigrant communities to assess with a randomized controlled trial the effectiveness of journalist-moderated social media groups on delivering public health communication to Latinos. As such, this project will inform policy by providing evidence-based knowledge about the role of CCEMOs in improving the media environments available to Latinos, and their informative role about available pathways to health care access. 

Collaborators:

• Columbia University
• El Timpano
• Enlace Latino North Carolina
• Conecta Arizona

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