Paper
Saturday, November 3, 2007
70
Humor in Healthcare Messaging: Audionovela Style
Kathleen Adamle, PhD, RN, AOCN and Eugenia Missik, PhD, RN. College of Nursing, Kent State University, Kent, OH, USA
| Learning Objective #1: Describe the use of humor in the development of audionovelas for health messages in the Hispanic community |
| Learning Objective #2: Explain the benefit of audio messages for patients with limited English and/or Spanish proficiency |
The purpose of this study was to investigate why humor was included in the development of three audionovelas. Audionovelas are based on traditional Spanish novelas, which were fictional stories. Traditional novelas were heard on the radio. Modern novelas developed into telenovelas and now appear on television. Audionovelas are new novelas which were developed and produced on cassette discs, are more portable, and designed for group and individual usage. In-depth interviews were conducted with the two Out-Reach Program Directors of Hispanic Community Centers in Ohio (study participants) who developed three audionovelas. The study participants wrote, developed, and produced these audionovelas as a means to increase health education within their communities. The audionovelas were broadcasted in Spanish by public radio stations, which served Hispanic populations, heard during community group meetings with the Hispanic community, and were available for individual listening. Content analysis from the interviews revealed several themes: (1) humor was included in the audionovela health messages because humor is considered an important component of the Hispanic culture, (2) the appeal and uniqueness of audionovelas was based on the familiar format of a novela which incorporated their own language, music, and humor in development and production, (3) the audionovelas eliminated literacy issues about health information for the Hispanic community, and (4) study participants reported that members of the Hispanic communities who listened to the audionovelas sought out additional information on each health topic and requested more audionovelas be developed. According to the study participants, requests for more health information in the form of audionovelas showed that this type of health messaging was positively received by the members of their Hispanic communities. The results from this study indicate the need for expanding this method of delivering health care information for the Hispanic population.