Fotonovelas: A Culturally Appropriate way to Reach Parents

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Fotonovelas A Culturally Appropriate way to
Reach Parents

• Mary Lou de Leon Siantz PhD RN
• Director Milagros Center of Excellence in Migrant
  Health
• Georgetown University

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Need

• Over 90 million persons in the U.S. have low
  levels of literacy
• Many Latino parents are learning English as a
  second language or have limited literacy in
  combination with limited English proficiency
• A need exists for non-print material to
  communicate concepts important for parents to use
  to understand their roles as their childs first
  teacher

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Characteristics of parents who benefit from
fotonovelas

• Tend not to look for information in printed
  materials
• Not enough language proficiency to understand and
  apply information described in written handouts
• Difficulty in reading menus, prescription labels,
  instructions
• Tend to think in concrete/immediate terms not
  abstract
• Information is stored by memory instead of
  written word
• Identify with traditional wisdom instead of new
  information
• Thoughts and expressions simple and concrete
  (AMC.99)

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Effective programming for persons with limited
literacy

• Begins by partnering with parents to identify
  information needs
• Identify appropriate message needed
• Identify best ways to communicate information

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Learning about Audience through Focus Groups

• Group interaction provides information among
  peers
• Group Pressure provides clarification
• Participants feel comfortable discussing subject
  matter openly
• Topic requires brief responses from participants
• Participants can be brought together in one
  location

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Developing Original materials the Fotonovela

• Assess resources
• Funds for new material development
• What information is most critical to communicate
• Who are the creative members of your staff
• Involve parents in developing the concepts and
  messages

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Helpful Hints

• Know audience you want to reach
• Use local in house talent when possible
• Create an outline of concepts to be communicated
• Expand it
• Make sure points are clearly presented
• Logically sequenced
• Easy to understand
• Interesting, familiar, realistic, and positive

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Visual Materials

• Enhance learning
• Stimulate audience participation
• Illustrate important points
• Specify steps to follow in completing a task
• Present real life situations

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Visual materials

• Help people to learn by seeing
• Help learners remember better than if only read
  or heard
• Useful for persons with limited literacy
• Remember People remember 10 of what they read,
  20 of what they hear, 30 of what they see, and
  70 of what they see and hear

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The Fotonovela

• The Fotonovela is a story told by photographs
• The dialogue is similar to comic book format
• Through its conversational approach, it can be a
  food limited literacy, limited English
  educational tool
• The Story line is told through a realistic,
  entertaining, and educational plot
• Novelas are a well known and accepted medium in
  the Latino community

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Designing a Fotonovela

• Four basic elements
• 1) Plot or story line woven into message
• 2) Scene changes should be clearly marked to help
  reader follow the story
• 3) Dialogue consists of short sentences that
  should be familiar to the reader located in
  balloons within each frame

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Designing a Fotonovel

• 4) Characters should be based on those that
  parents could identify with identified through
  focus groups
• Characters play an important role in
  communicating the information in a clear manner
• 5) Visuals whether photos, cartoons, drawings,
  should appeal to the intended audience
• They should motivate the reader to pick up the
  novela
• 6) Pretest the Novela

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Fotonovelas A cultural perspective

• Isolation
• LEP
• Low SES
• Limited Education
• See Latino images in pictures
• Identify with the characters

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Fotonovelas A cultural perspective

• Familism
• Religiosity
• Simpatia Positive social relationships
• Collectivism
• Transitional changes in gender roles
• Immigration to open opportunities for children

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Multi-method approaches

• Getting to know families through Focus groups
• Home Visits
• Neighborhood Assessments to assess for family
  supports, child supports, through churches,
  culturally competent health agencies, Spanish
  Language newspapers

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Mental Health and Parenting strategies

• Background of Pilot Study at maternal child
  health center
• Sample Central American mother and fathers of
  infants and toddlers
• Purpose To identify methods to communicate
  concepts of promoting mental health and parenting

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The Fotonovela (picture story)

• Identification by parents that promote
  illustration of concepts
• Coping with stress of parenting role
• Learning to communicate with our children
• Fathers have a changing role
• Establishing local social support parent networks

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Developing the story line

• Focus group discussions create the context
• Create the characters to deliver the message
• Create the outcomes that include prevention and
  promotion of mental health and positive
  parent/child communication

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Migrant Head Start/Marys Center Focus Group
Outcome

• Yakima
• Elwood Indiana
• Marys Center Washington DC

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The Result Desarrollo

• Fotonovela example