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In Colorado, Latinos experience a different pandemic reality

Health departments across the state customize communication for non-English speakers in effort to minimizes some of the COVID-19 disparities

Jessica Peterson
Glenwood Springs Post Independent
Examples of social media posts from Colorado residents participating in the #VaccineFactsCO campaign to encourage others to be vaccinated.

GLENWOOD SPRINGS — From the onset of the pandemic, it became obvious fairly quickly that COVID-19 was not affecting all communities equally.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data shows Latinos in particular dying at a rate three times higher than their white counterparts. Vanessa Bernal said the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment recognized these inequities and approached communicating with non-English speakers more intentionally.

“As we know, the pandemic exploits all of society’s vulnerabilities and makes health disparities particularly pronounced,” said Bernal, a bilingual media specialist for the Prevention Services Division at the state health department. “Because social and economic inequities are so deeply embedded into our system, they require several solutions to create positive outcomes for people of color. Because of that, the department of health has been taking several steps to reach Latinos or Spanish-speaking Coloradans.”



Bernal’s role did not exist before she started in September 2018, and it shifted in March 2020 to focus entirely on the state’s COVID-19 response and Spanish resources. Because of how communities of color historically have been treated in the United States, Brisa Chavez, the Hispanic engagement coordinator for Garfield County Public Health, said the department’s strategy has relied on maximizing trust.

“(Distrust) is one of the biggest barriers we have. So (we make) sure the Spanish-speaking community knows that if they have any questions they have somebody in their own native tongue that can speak to them,” Chavez said.



Public Health officials saw the need to share information about COVID-19 not just through their outlets but by partnering with community leaders and other Hispanic residents to make the facts more personable and relatable. Kari Ladrow, public health director in Moffat County, said partnerships like these are a large part of how her county’s department ensures the Latino community is accessing reliable information to help them navigate the pandemic.

Examples of social media posts from Colorado residents participating in the #VaccineFactsCO campaign to encourage others to be vaccinated.

“One of our critical partners is Integrated Communities/Comunidad Integrada, a nonprofit whose mission is to build respectful relationships between immigrant and local neighbors and to break down linguistic and systemic barriers that prevent constituents from accessing services and resources,” Ladrow wrote in an email. “We also developed relationships with trusted faith leaders within the community in order to provide a collaboration and united effort toward combating COVID-19.”

Bernal said the state’s translators continue to carry a massive workload and worked on 400 COVID-19 related documents from April to September of 2020. Another part of the state’s efforts to reach Latinos is through social media and by partnering with influencers who can provide a first-person perspective to the campaign #VaccineFactsCO.

“The department of public health wanted to increase the number of trusted messengers that would be delivering information about COVID-19,” Bernal said. “… We are currently in the process of expanding this program to more Coloradans around the state sharing their own story, why it’s important for them to get vaccinated.”

Examples of social media posts from Colorado residents participating in the #VaccineFactsCO campaign to encourage others to be vaccinated.

Garfield County is also implementing a similar approach, Chavez said, by making sure there are bilingual staff on the COVID-19 hotline and bicultural employees as well to improve communication with Spanish-speakers and empower them to get the facts and their questions answered in their native language.

“One of the main questions that is asked of me is, ‘What kind of vaccine did you receive?’… Once you share your story, let them know that you’re good and still here. It’s really a sigh of relief,” Chavez said.

Ladrow wrote that a silver lining to the pandemic would be the awareness her department now has about communicating with non-English speakers. Moffat County offers radio commercials in Spanish and will continue trying to close the disparities of health information access for their residents, she said.

Examples of social media posts from Colorado residents participating in the #VaccineFactsCO campaign to encourage others to be vaccinated.

Using Facebook, Facebook Messenger, other social media sites and radio have proven to be the most efficient ways to connect with the Latino community, Chavez said. She has noticed it takes someone who they know, a trusted neighbor or family member, to explain their rationale behind the vaccine and the symptoms they had with it before they feel comfortable getting it themselves. Information about COVID-19 is essential, and Bernal said the work the state and other health departments across Colorado have done is not going unnoticed.

“They really appreciate all these efforts of all these methods of communication they get in their own language. That’s my perception of how they get it. That they are appreciative. … This is what they need now, they need information, updated information,” Bernal said.

This story is from PostIndependent.com.

 

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