UC Berkeley

Latino-Hispanic construction workers in the United States are at significantly higher risks for injuries and fatalities at construction worksites than their White and African-American counterparts. Currently the main mode of dissemination of workplace safety information is through direct translation of work safety material delivered at the worksite. Current research, however, suggests that even when translated into Spanish, many of these materials are not culturally or linguistically effective modes of preventable risk education and persuasion.

One promising method for far-reaching, cost-effective, and culturally relevant education may be found in the Entertainment-Education (EE) health communication strategy. EE leverages popular entertainment media - such as movies, television shows, music, theater and/or radio - by embedding specific health messages within a storyline and using the power of narrative to stimulate positive health choices. Spanish-language soap operas (telenovelas) are an entertainment media format culturally embraced by Latino Spanish-speaking audiences and have been effectively utilized by health educators and public health officials to promote changes in knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors for a variety of health issues.

The Centers for Disease Control/National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (CDC/NIOSH) worked with two public health partners and the Spanish language TV chain Telemundo to develop and implement an entertainment education intervention that utilized a telenovela embedded with construction worksite safety information. A statistical analysis of audience survey data collected both before and after the airing of the workplace storyline showed improvements in knowledge outcomes but not in changes in perceptions or behavioral intention outcomes. Detailed analyses revealed that survey respondents who reported recognition of the telenovela workplace storyline were more likely to identify key safety messages embedded within the storyline than respondents who did not recognize the storyline.

In addition to the quantitative data, semi-structured key informant interviews were conducted with eight (8) individuals associated with the intervention project. The objective of these interviews was to explore how the partnership between public health institutions and media organizations affected the development, implementation, and evaluation of this project. Project stakeholders voiced challenges which stemmed from the chaotic nature of network television, tensions between developing entertaining vs. accurate educational messaging, and difficulty in communicating actionable messages that would be effective in changing workplace behaviors. Despite these challenges partners felt confident that future endeavors using an EE strategy should be made in communicating other workplace safety issues to Latino and other vulnerable populations.

Improved collaboration between entertainment media writers/producers and public health experts is needed to create interventions with the power to change viewers behaviors over time. In addition, more refined research methods are needed to examine EE intervention development and outcomes.