Juntos, We Can Stop COVID-19!

Salud America! uses a strategy called "digital content curation" to raise awareness of the particular health issues that disproportionately burden Latino children and families, as well as promote solutions and build people's capacity to address these issues. With massive amounts of content created across the internet, curation is a systematic and refined process to create succinct and easily consumable health messages so as to prevent mixed messaging and information overload. It involves: (i) digital content curators daily sorting through content on the web about Latino health topics, using criteria such as whether there is a Latino behind emerging changes and solutions; (ii) curators extracting the most relevant points from the original content to craft posts about Latino health equity resources, policy/system changes, and/or Latino peer models of policy and system changes; and (iii) bringing the website content to Latino audiences across different channels, incorporating elements such as Latino-focused visuals and video interviews of Latino policy/system change-makers.

This strategy was used to create #JuntosStopCovid, a public awareness and behaviour change communication campaign centring on three main preventive actions:

1. Wear a face mask - and care for it properly: For example: "My mask protects you and your familia, from the niños to the abuelos. Your mask protects me and my familia. It's not just about masking up in public. It's also about masking up if you get together with family or friends. The more community participation in wearing a mask, the greater the benefit....Share Why You Wear a Mask!...."I wear a mask because I'm making a statement: I care about you. #JuntosStopCovid"
2. Avoid public places, or at least get together safely, familia: The campaign provides case studies, graphics, an event risk assessment planning tool, safety tips for getting together, ideas for how not to offend family and friends who may not believe in coronavirus or may not understand the importance of infection prevention measures, etc.
3. Know what to do if you're exposed or test positive: For example: "We can answer the call when public health workers are conducting case investigation and contact tracing. We can let our local leaders know we support public health workers and infection prevention measures."

In addition to these preventive measures, the campaign offers specific suggestions for taking action, including by spreading the word to family, friends, and co-workers via social media. Because misinformation and fear can spread quickly, the campaign urges Latinos to take care when reading and sharing information to check dates and sources of data, as well as dates and locations of photos.

Health

Latinos represent 20.2% of U.S. COVID-19 deaths, despite being 18.5% of the population. Furthermore, on August 26 2020, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that 94% of people who died from COVID-19 had a pre-existing condition, like diabetes, which disproportionately impacts Latinos.

Salud America! acknowledges that denialism about the virus exists. However, while there are a lot of unknowns, it is clear that COVID-19 is occurring here, in our backyards. "Right now, in our own communities, we can reduce the spread of COVID-19 and improve health." Salud America! that infection prevention measures, like masks, have been politicised, negatively impacting personal and public health. The message is: Don't wait for politicians to solve our problems, and don't wait for symptoms to change your behaviour.