Spanish Outreach Campaign Encourages Healthy, Safe Community
This poster concept is “I take care of myself to take care of them,” to show everyone must help practice public health precautions for the good of the entire community.
Students in the College of Medicine – Tucson took it upon themselves to design a few posters to underscore the importance of social distancing, handwashing and wearing masks when in public during the COVID-19 pandemic – all in Spanish. The idea was simple, but novel. Literature has been scarce on protection measures in Spanish, so the students decided to post the messages in areas where Hispanics may shop. A few weeks later, the students had garnered the support of two Tucson City Council members, the Pima County Health Department and the college’s Commitment to Underserved People Program. In addition, folks with the Calle 24 Latino Cultural District in San Francisco saw the posters on Instagram and launched a social media video contest to further the messaging.
Fourth-year medical student Ricardo Reyes and Store Manager Ramon Lopez hang a social distancing poster at the end of a grocery check-out aisle at a Food City grocery store on West Ajo Way in Tucson.
“This space is not empty, it is full of love and health for my family and my community.” Fourth-year medical student Ricardo Reyes worked with his peers to draw several posters to be used as outreach to Spanish-speaking residents in the Tucson area.
A customer walks by as fourth-year medical student Ricardo Reyes and Ramon Lopez, store manager of the Food City on West Ajo Way in Tucson, hang a social distancing poster at the entrance of the store. Reyes and his peers in the College of Medicine – Tucson designed many of the posters as outreach about ways to practice health precautions for Spanish-speaking communities in Arizona.
Fourth-year medical student Ricardo Reyes joins Food City Store Manager Ramon Lopez show what social distancing looks like at the store on West Ajo Way by staying six feet apart, using the lines on the floor of the grocery store as guides.
Store Manager Ramon Lopez hangs a “stop the spread poster” from the Pima County Health Department at the Food City grocery store on West Ajo Way.
This poster plays on the art and persona of Frida Kahlo in urging people to wear masks on their faces. “I was talking with one of my classmates about still seeing a lot of non-compliant or no social distancing in grocery stores and Walmart's and things like that,” said Cazandra Zaragoza, MPH, a fourth-year medical student at the College of Medicine – Tucson, who helped make and distribute the posters.
A glove and mask disposal bin in a Food City grocery store in Tucson, one of many changes grocery stores have implemented to help protect public safety in the pandemic. The store is also hanging posters designed by College of Medicine – Tucson students to help encourage masking, social distancing and hand washing.
“With social distancing, I protect my home.” These posters, designed by students in the College of Medicine – Tucson, were printed by the Pima County Health Department with funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Fourth-year medical student Ricardo Reyes helped create these posters and then hang them in a Tucson grocery store.
This poster puts a playful twist on a well-recognized Hispanic mother disciplinary threat – in this case, the admonition to watch out for the sandal if you don’t wash your hands. Another poster uses the same design theme to encourage social distancing.
Fourth-year medical student Ricardo Reyes speaks with a customer at a Food City grocery store in Tucson about the social distancing campaign he and his classmates are hoping to share with the Spanish-speaking community.
With a prickly pear cactus background, this poster warns not to get too close to one another. Cazandra Zaragoza, MPH, a fourth-year medical student at the College of Medicine – Tucson, helped make and distribute the posters. “I realized there really weren't any posters and things in Spanish and, if they are, they have a lot of text and it's not very visual. It's not very appealing,” she said.
Assistant Store Manager Peter Ramirez and fourth-year medical student Ricardo Reyes hang a social distancing sign outside a Food City grocery store on South Sixth Avenue in Tucson as part of an outreach campaign about social distancing.
This poster concept is “I take care of myself to take care of them,” to show everyone must help practice public health precautions for the good of the entire community.
Fourth-year medical student Ricardo Reyes speaks with a customer at a Food City grocery store in Tucson about the social distancing campaign he and his classmates are hoping to share with the Spanish-speaking community.
WhatsApp is a popular way to communicate with people who live in different countries, here’s an example of a model conversation about social distancing to protect those we love.
This social distancing poster is one of a dozen designed by students in the College of Medicine – Tucson and then distributed throughout the community as an outreach and public health messaging campaign.