About FDA

Accomplishment: FDA Office of Women’s Health (OWH) developed the Nunca Mas Novella Health Series to educate Latinas about safe medication use. According to the 2003 National Assessment of Adult Literacy, 41 percent of Hispanic adults have below basic health literacy skills, which may make it harder for them to read drug labels and follow medication instructions. The novellas blend culturally appropriate dramatic scenarios and plain language techniques to convey easy-to-understand messages about medication safety. In each episode, a family encounters problems caused by medication misuse. The primary and secondary audiences for Nunca Mas are Spanish-speaking American Hispanic women age 18 and over as well as caregivers, health providers, pharmacists, family members, and others. This innovative form of “edutainment” addresses unmet needs among non-English speaking Hispanic adults, especially those with low health literacy, who face challenges related to medication use. The novella is comprised of 4 three-minute Spanish language episodes with English captioning. The novellas are available online (see link below under Related Links).

Communications platforms were expanded to increase Hispanic consumer awareness of ¡Nunca Más! and other FDA/OWH Spanish language women’s health education information resources. The Nunca Más! Novella Health Series model served as a catalyst for advancing OWH collaborations with Hispanic-serving organizations, and delivery through social media (e.g., Twitter, Google) and Latina/Latino online marketing industry websites, mobile networks, and other outreach platforms. The goal of the launch phase of the campaign was to further strengthen and engage Hispanic stakeholder and consumer support and build a sense of personal connection with the FDA/OWH Website as a trusted health information resource. Specifically: (1) OWH plain language publications and videos have been disseminated free of charge to over 30 million consumers nationwide through partnerships with government agencies, community health centers, religious institutions, and national organizations such as NCLR, NHMA, and MANA; (2) The online and mobile campaign for the OWH during the month of May, 2012 resultied in an overall 3,444,207 impressions, an above industry 0.63% CTR (Click through Rate) and 14,287 clicks. The results show that Latinas within the target population are receptive and reactive to this type of health messages dissemination; and (3) Twitter: The Twitter chat, “Latinas Staying Healthy,” held on May 17 generated close to 3 million impressions, reached 660,000 Twitter accounts, and delivered 346 retweets.