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Hoy en Adelante: Theater communicates diabetes prevention message to Latinas
One-act skits use family-based, culturally relevant approach.
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ATLANTA — Many things, including language barriers and cultural beliefs, make diabetes education among Hispanic communities challenging. However, a new program, Hoy en Adelante — which translates into ‘From This Day Forward’ — is using theater presentations to help make the prevention and treatment of diabetes culturally relevant to Latinas.
Hoy en Adelante is a nationwide program utilizing one-act skits or health vignettes along with storytelling to illustrate ways to prevent diabetes among Latinos at risk for the disease and to prevent complications for those living with diabetes. Using a family-based approach, Hoy en Adelante specifically targets Latinas of reproductive age to serve as peer educators for the entire Latino community, with special attention paid to low-income populations.
“Latinas are the gate keepers of their family’s health. If you educate La mujer Latina, you are going to educate the families along with the community,” said Jeanette Beltrán, national director of special programs at the National Latina Health Network.
Beltrán and colleagues presented information about the implementation of Hoy en Adelante Diabetes Education Program at the CDC Division of Diabetes Translation 2007 Conference in Atlanta.
Using theater to teach
According to Beltrán, theater has long been a culturally accepted vehicle for educating Latinos about key social issues. Theater enables spectators to witness reality-based scenes that can stir emotions, and it vicariously challenges the spectator to relate to the scenarios that play out on stage.
Theater is an ideal method of communication because of the way it has captured the attention of Latinos from generation to generation. It addresses literacy issues and other cultural competency factors, and the storylines can be retold or shared with others not in attendance.
“Our hope is that individuals who take part in the education prevention workshops not only gain knowledge about diabetes prevention and control but also share it with family members,” Beltrán said.
Three bilingual and bicultural scripts have been written for the program: “What? Count My Tortillas!,” “Diabetes: Staying on Track” and “Controlling Diabetes: A Family Effort.”
All the scripts portray family situations that help audience members feel a connection with the characters.
“What makes our program successful is the freedom that our sites have to adapt the scripts to the needs of the local community, from foods in the script to the way that characters dress themselves,” said Marisol Morales, senior communication manager from the National Latina Health Network. “In Los Angeles we have a higher Mexican American population; however, in Florida, we have more of a Puerto Rican and Dominican representation, and our Florida site has ‘What! Count my Tostones!’”
The primary target audience is Latinas and their families; however, Hoy en Adelante is also trying to target health care providers that serve the Latino community.
Source: Jeanette Beltrán, National Latina Health Network |
Establishing program sites
Currently, the program has five sites: Florida, Texas, New Jersey, Illinois and California. At each site, core National Diabetes Education Program messages about the prevention of and complications from diabetes are adapted to meet the needs of the sub-Latino cultures.
Each program site trains a group of peer educators. Nationwide, Hoy en Adelante has 72 peer educators from many different sub-Latino populations, including Cuban, Dominican, Puerto Rican and Mexican.
Peer educators, who are often volunteers, receive simultaneous training on health education, facilitation skills, use of resource materials and conducting theater presentation. They rehearse once a week and receive ongoing education once a week over a span of four to eight weeks prior to the performance of any skits.
Meanwhile, program coordinators at each site are trying to establish a Community Collaborative Network. Beltrán stressed the important of community buy-in to help sustain prevention programs once funding has ceased.
For example, merchants in the community may offer to provide space for rehearsal, or a small print shop might offer to print play-bills for the performances.
Once a site is trained and has the support of a Community Collaborative Network, peer educators go out into the community to perform. Performances may be at health fairs, parenting classes, migrant farm camps or English as a second language classes.
“They sometimes partner with educational facilities that allow them to put on presentations for their students. They can perform for as few as five people or up to 300 people,” Morales said.
The presentations incorporate activity and encourage the audience to get up from their seats, move around or dance. After every presentation, the peer educators have a community session, where they put their diabetes and health education to use. In addition to answering questions, they also allow the audience members to share their stories.
Community impact
To date, it is estimated that Hoy en Adelante has reached about 10,000 Latina women and families in its five program markets through theater programs and more than 3 million people using various media outlets. More than 80 local community partners from the public and private sectors have been recruited to assist in sustaining the program.
In the future, Beltrán said that the National Latina Health Network hopes to develop “fotonovelas” from the plays to be distributed among the community together with additional health information. – by Leah Lawrence
For more information:
- Beltrán J, Ramos R, Morales M, Zarza MJ. Hoy en Adelante (From this Day Forward): Latinas as equal partners. Plenary Session. Presented at: The CDC Division of Diabetes Translation 2007 Conference; May 2, 2007; Atlanta.