Family Health Centers takes to the airwaves to reach Latino patients

In the studios of Okanogan's KOMW-AM, a cast of Spanish-speaking actors huddles around microphones, taping the latest episode in a weekly program. This week, as always, the plot revolves around a character with a health concern.

It's soon apparent that this isn't your typical radio drama. The episode is only five minutes long. The actors aren't professionals—they're volunteers from Okanogan County's Hispanic community. And for all the energy the cast puts into their soap-opera-worthy performances, the educational content far outweighs the entertainment value.

Education is exactly the objective, says Lois Hale of Family Health Centers, an area CHC that produces the program in partnership with Mid-Valley Hospital and Okanogan Public Health. The episodes run every Sunday afternoon during KOMW's Spanish-language program "La Hispania." In addition to the short radio play, each installment also features a health care provider discussing a particular health topic.

The radio spots grew out of an effort to provide childbirth education to underserved Spanish-speaking women, but have broadened to include a range of family health issues. In addition to topics such as lactation or gestational diabetes, the segments are just as likely to cover fever reduction, viruses and bacteria, nutrition, or the importance of mammograms.

"During the wildfires here, we did segments on smoke inhalation," says Hale. "When it was hot and temperatures were up in the hundreds, we did segments on heatstroke."

Producing a radio show for the "Hispanic audience" isn't always easy. Listeners may share a common language, but because they come from regions across Mexico , Central America, and South America , their cultures vary. Even the Spanish they speak is not the same.

Despite those differences, the segments have struck a common chord. Family Health Centers hasn't measured its audience, but because "La Hispania" is the only Spanish-language radio program available in the area—and because members of the community have requested specific shows on topics like E. coli and Hantavirus—Hale is confident that the number of listeners is sizable. Meanwhile, a recent survey by the Washington State Department of Health revealed that Hispanic residents put a high level of trust in health information they hear on the radio.

One sign of the program's success is that it recently received a fresh infusion of funding from the Washington Health Foundation as well as a federal outreach grant. It has also served as a nexus for a coalition of health and social service agencies dedicated to increasing access to health care for Hispanic residents.

"It's been wonderful to network and find out how we can help each other," says Hale. "We all understand that this is a really important thing to keep going."

For more information, contact Lois Hale at (509) 422-5700 or lhale@myfamilyhealth.org .

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