Amor y Salud (love and health): A preconception health campaign for second-generation Latinas in Oregon

Purpose: To develop, and implement, a social marketing campaign to increase preconception health knowledge among second-generation Latinas in Oregon. Design. Social marketing demonstration project. Setting: Latino communities in five Oregon counties. Subjects. Target populations included young Latinas (18-29 years old) born in the United States of immigrant parents in five Oregon counties, and their family members. Intervention. A radionovela, Amor y Salud, was developed that featured a Latina and her fiancé preparing for marriage and family. Social media, Web sites, and culturally relevant print materials promoted the radio campaign. Measures. Process data, social media metrics, Google analytics, online and intercept surveys were collected. Analysis. Basic frequencies and descriptive statistics were used. Results: Twelve episodes were produced in English and Spanish and played on nine radio stations a total of 2098 times. The Facebook page was viewed 11,000 times, and radionovela episodes were played a total of 776 times. Conclusion: Amor y Salud used mixed media - radio, social media, print materials - to encourage Latinas to consider their preconception health. Anecdotally, we heard positive comments from community members and local media regarding the radionovela; however, evaluation challenges prevent us from saying conclusively that knowledge on this topic increased.