Knight Foundation Explores Public Health Awareness in the Latina Community

Health studies focusing on the health of Latinas and how they access health information are being done in the College Park neighborhood and surrounding areas.
 
Linda Steiner, University of Maryland Professor and Director of Research and Doctoral Studies at the Philip Merrill College of Journalism, and Ron Yaros, Assistant Professor at the Philip Merrill College of Journalism, received a grant set up by the Knight Foundation to explore one aspect of their choosing.

 
The Knight Foundation aims to “help journalism do its best possible to help sustain democracy and democratic communities,” Steiner says.
 
The studies and research being performed are in response to a report done by Steve Waldman called “Information Needs of Communities: The Changing Media Landscape in a Broadband Age.” The report largely focuses on how the media has changed and how it is being utilized today.
 
Steiner and Yaros chose to focus on the issue more specifically with Latinas in the College Park, Takoma Park, and Langley Park area. “Our concern was that this particular community, and especially women and pregnant women, might not have access to the news they need, especially if they don’t access news in English,” says Steiner. There will be a symposium held in May where the results will be discussed.
 
According to Ph.D. Candidate and research assistant, Jessica Roberts, there are several focus groups and a survey being done for the study. “The focus groups are designed to get at how Latinas are getting health information, what their sources are, what works and what doesn’t, and what questions they have,” Roberts says.
 
Ph.D. student, Elia Powers, said there was a survey done of about 30 people. The group included doctors, nurses, clinic workers, and other medical professionals. “The idea is to survey people in the field to see what kind of questions they get,” Powers says.

 
According to Powers, the researchers wanted to do a survey as well as have focus groups with Latina women to “get a sense from both sides and see if there are any overlaps.” He says this can help suggest ways that the news media can get the word out about the certain health concerns. “We really care about where they are getting their information,” Powers says.
 
Roberts says that she was asked to participate in the study because she can speak Spanish and could communicate with the Latinas in the best way possible so that the focus groups could run smoothly.
 
From her studies, Roberts says that it seems like the main issue for Latinas is figuring out where they can get services. “Sometimes they have issues in terms of their legal status and they also have issues in terms of language,” Roberts says. She says the situations vary, depending on various factors such as job status, a language barrier, and the possession of health insurance.

 
Roberts says that there are many Latinas, especially young adults, using phone applications to guide them throughout their pregnancies. Even middle-age women are using the Internet for health information, but the real issue is “Where can I go?” according to Roberts. She says the media such as radio are providing information on health issues, but they aren’t providing enough information about the basics.
 
On May 9th, from 9:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. there will be a symposium held in Knight Hall at the University of Maryland. The researchers will present the results of their studies, have a panel discussion with a few different researchers from the public health field, as well a discussion about what the next steps will be, according to Roberts.
 
Powers says the primary audience for the symposium is most likely people in the health field who pay special attention to women’s health as well as people who are in the news media who are health reporters. Anyone is welcome to attend the symposium.