FDA Invests in Innovative Ways to Communicate to Hispanics | FDA Voice
FDA Invests in Innovative Ways to Communicate to Hispanics
Posted on October 14, 2015 by FDA Voice
By: Gloria Sánchez-Contreras
En Español
National Hispanic Heritage Month–celebrated annually from September 15 to October 15—gives Americans a great opportunity to celebrate the histories, cultures, and contributions of Hispanic Americans whose roots are in Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Central and South America.
At FDA, we join in this celebration as we continue to use innovative ways to reach Hispanics as part of our mission to protect the public health. To achieve this goal, FDA uses media strategies that are culturally and linguistically tailored to Hispanics, who, according to research, are avid users of online and social media.
There are 54 million people of Hispanic origin in the United States, making them the nation’s largest ethnic or racial minority group, with 17 percent of the nation’s total population, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The United States has the second-largest population of Spanish-speaking residents in the world, ahead of Colombia and Spain, and second to Mexico, a recent study by the Instituto Cervantes shows.
These statistics cannot go unnoticed. FDA recognizes the importance of connecting with this growing and diverse segment of our population. Consequently, we have increased our online consumer information in Spanish and developed a variety of bilingual communications strategies to reach and engage all Hispanics.
One of the most important strategies we use is to make sure that messages created for Hispanics speak to them effectively. We consider Hispanics’ informational needs, lifestyles, and cultural health beliefs both when creating new messaging and when translating messaging from English to Spanish.
For example, we know Hispanics respond better when communications are in their primary language – which can be English or Spanish – and when communications use images that relate to them. We do this by employing a bilingual and bicultural team that reviews messaging for cultural competence and adapts translations to ensure they are culturally sensitive and in plain language.
In addition to our English-language communications, we have developed strategies to reach out to Spanish-speaking Hispanics online. Our Consumer Updates and drug safety communications are regularly translated into Spanish. We share Spanish-language information through our social media channels, including Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, andYouTube.
In addition, we also have a complete Web section in Spanish for consumers (www.FDA.gov/ArticulosConsumidor), a press room (“Comunicados de Prensa”), and a central page (www.FDA.gov/Espanol) that links to a variety of Spanish-language content developed across the Agency’s product centers and offices.
These are exciting times, and it is a privilege to lead some of these efforts for our agency. The Office of External Affairs works diligently across FDA to share important and timely public health news with Latino consumers, stakeholders, media, and community organizations. And during Hispanic Heritage Month—and all the months of the year–we want Hispanics to know that FDA is a trusted source of consumer information.
Gloria Sanchez-Contreras, M.A., is a Bilingual Public Affairs Specialist and the Spanish-Language Communications Lead in FDA’s Office of Media Affairs.
This entry was posted in Animal & Veterinary, Children's Health, Drugs, Food, Globalization, Medical Devices / Radiation-Emitting Products, Other Topics, Pediatrics, Tobacco Products, Vaccines, Blood & Biologics and tagged National Hispanic Heritage Month, Spanish language resources for consumers byFDA Voice. Bookmark the permalink.
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FDA Invests in Innovative Ways to Communicate to Hispanics | FDA Voice