Bill Klaproth (host): This is a special podcast produced onsite at SHSMD Connections 2023 Annual Conference in Chicago as we talk with keynote speakers and session leaders direct from the show floor. I'm Bill Klaproth. And with me is Claudia Otero, Community Outreach Lead at Salinas Valley Health. And we're going to talk about her SHSMD session, Bilingual Strategy Communications: Communicating With A Diverse Audience. Claudia, welcome.

Claudia Otero: Thank you, Bill. Good morning. It's good to be here.

Host: It's good to have you here. Pleasure to talk with you. So, let's jump into this. Hispanics are one of the most influential growing demographics in the country, yet reaching Hispanics effectively can be challenging. Can you tell us why that is?

Claudia Otero: I have a theory. There are 62.57 million Hispanics or Latino in the US with the buying power of 2.7 trillion, that's a significant number. And I can tell you personally, and just looking at my family as a Hispanic woman, we are very faithful to certain brands rights of whether it's cleaning products or certain healthcare systems that were very loyal and there's just a reason for that. So, I would say that's probably one of the biggest issues.

Host: That is a big audience to reach. So, having an effective strategy is really important. Is that right?

Claudia Otero: It is. It is. Absolutely. And I know we're going to talk a little bit about that in just a bit. But we definitely have a strategy at Salinas Valley Health.

Host: Okay. So, let's talk about that. So, let's talk about a bilingual strategy and why it's critical for healthcare marketers and communicators who serve communities with a significant Hispanic population.

Claudia Otero: Yes. So in Monterey county, which is where our hospital system and clinics are located, we have 60% of the population in the county is Hispanic, Latino. Now in Salinas, which is where our hospital is located, and again, the majority of our clinics, we're talking about 80%. There are two hospitals or medical centers in Salinas. So, there you have it. I would say within the last 10 years or so is when that switch happened for our medical system, where we started really going after the translating of pamphlets and flyers and signage, everything, again, because that is our audience, those are our patients. It really wasn't until that pandemic hit three and a half years ago when we really went for it. And everything that we were putting out on social media, creating a podcast series, a Facebook live series was now all of a sudden right there for our community in two languages.

Host: Yeah. I bet the results have been great in the feedback from the community I would imagine.

Claudia Otero: Fantastic. I mean, I can tell you that the very first Facebook live that we had with one physician and we filmed with that cell phone and a tiny tripod in a conference room, we had between 8,000 and 9,000 people watching live. And we had questions that we couldn't keep up with. I was reading off to the physician and he was trying his best to answer within a one-hour span. So, that was amazing, historic. We unfortunately haven't had those kinds of numbers since. They'd still been good, but that was incredible. And so, that really catapulted us to continue that mission.

Host: Yeah. That was more of a health emergency, so you would imagine that more people would be interested in it. But so through the success of that, did that say to you, "Oh, we're onto something here. We need to keep doing this." So, is that what kind of catapulted you into, "Okay. We're going to translate everything and we're going to start a podcast. Was that how it all started?

Claudia Otero: Yes, absolutely. And actually right around that time, we had started our podcast series with DoctorPodcasting. And we did start English only. And then after that Facebook live, we thought we have to do this in Spanish as well. So, we started producing in a way where I would try to find a bilingual provider. If we didn't have one, or if one wasn't available, we would then have your producers translate and then dub and re-edit the segment. And we were putting that out there and they've been very successful too.

Host: Yeah, that's a really good strategy. Have the English and the Spanish version, both of the podcasts so you do reach both audiences. I love that. So when you do a bilingual podcasts, when you do live presentations, how do you decide the presenters or the physicians to do that? How do you put that all together?

Claudia Otero: Yeah, that's a great question. So, I put on my producing and anchor woman hat on. Now, that's what I used to be in my past life. So, I do have a list of providers who, number one, enjoy doing community outreach. I think that's very important. I have been known to stalk a few of these people, because I really want to get to know them. It's important for you to get to know these people, especially if you're going to put them on a platform like this, whether it's Facebook live or on a podcast or just out in the community and, of course, having a list of bilingual providers that really makes your job a little bit easier. And of course, you do want to spend a little bit of time prepping them, right? So, you want to make sure that they feel comfortable and when we're filming, obviously, it can be a little stressful when you have four or five cameras in front of you versus a live audience.

Host: Yeah, absolutely. So, let's talk about messaging for this. How do you come up with the messaging strategy to serve a bilingual audience?

Claudia Otero: Yeah. Well, I can go back to the early beginnings of COVID. Obviously, we wanted to get all that information that we had out there as soon as possible in both languages. After the vaccines came out, that's when we started moving to other topics. So, the next month was heart month, for example. And unfortunately, none of our cardiologists speak Spanish. So unfortunately, we only produced those videos in English. But moving forward and, you know, we covered other topics like diabetes. The number one illness in our county amongst Hispanics is diabetes followed by heart disease and stroke. So, we focus on those topics as well and sometimes our service lines, so mammography, for example. Urology recently had a very successful Ask The Experts and a couple of podcasts actually, which we also translated on urology men's health, so all sorts of problems that men face, just as an example.

Host: Yeah. So, it sounds like it's important to pay attention to the service lines for the special bilingual audience and the health community needs. You mentioned diabetes, there's a large incidence of that in your community. So, know your community, what disease states or topics will appeal to them and then pay attention to the service lines as well. Is that how you kind of put the strategy together?.

Claudia Otero: Absolutely. And as another example, since we're talking about diabetes, and next month in October, we're going to be recording a Facebook presentation, focusing on perinatal and neonatal diabetes, because it's becoming that circle, right? So, you're having a woman who's developing gestational diabetes during pregnancy, but what happens after that? So all of these problems start to emerge. So, that's going to be a really good one, very informative.

Host: I love it. I think this is great. So, can you just share a little bit more about the feedback that you get from the community? Have they come up to you and said, "Thank you. Finally, somebody is providing content for us and paying attention to us."

Claudia Otero: Yes, great question. So, yes, and it happened a lot during the pandemic and it continues now. We were, and I'm very proud to say, Salinas Valley Health was the only hospital in our county that was producing these Facebook lives and podcasts in both languages during the pandemic and even until now. So yes, we get a lot of feedback. We get emails, we get comments. I do get recognized and I do get asked about the series and do get thanked and, actually, in-house our providers, our nurses and our doctors do come up to me sometimes and they say, "Hey, when are we going to do something? When are we going to do a Facebook live? I have all these great ideas." And that's a plus plus for us.

Host: Yeah. So, that is a great point, Claudia. I love that. So, this is not only good for the community, but for physician relations as well. It seems like this is important.

Claudia Otero: Exactly. I mean, they want to get out there too. And sometimes it's difficult for them to actually leave the hospital or the clinic and go make a presentation at the chamber, but they can probably spend an hour with me recording, and then getting back to duty. So, yes.

Host: So for a bilingual physician, clinician, I bet this is a great communication vehicle for them, because they feel like I can speak directly to this community through Facebook Live, through podcasts. Is that right?

Claudia Otero: Absolutely. And the other thing too, is that we can repurpose these presentations so we can take a one-hour presentation or, usually, I like to keep it to 30 minutes. And we can cut them down to five minutes, focus on one particular question or even two minutes, and then put that out there again later on as an evergreen topic.

Bill Klaproth (host): Right. So, you can repurpose that audio or video into other evergreen communication. Like you said, I know that you take the podcast and you'll convert them to videos and you'll put them up on YouTube, which I think is a great, great strategy as well.

Claudia Otero: We do that as well, yes.

Host: This has been so fun, Claudia. I've loved talking to you about this. Is there anything else you want to add?

Claudia Otero: I would say if you're interested or curious about all the work that our marketing team has done over the last few years and continues to do, to visit our website and, of course, follow us on social media or on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, or X, formally known as Twitter.

Host: Yeah, right. I know we still say Twitter. We should be saying X, I guess. Well, Claudia, thank you so much for being here and talking to us about all the great things you do at Salinas Valley Health. We appreciate it. Thank you.

Claudia Otero: Thank you so much, Bill.

Host: And once again, that is Claudia Otero. And sign up for the SHSMD Connections virtual conference, October 20th, 2023 plus on-demand through the end of the year. The virtual conference will feature access to 50 plus sessions recorded from the September in-person conference, the one we're at, so you can view Claudia'S session, plus all new live sessions. Just go to SHSMD.org/annual to learn more and to get registered. And join us for the next SHSMD Connections 2024. Breaking news, here it is. It's next October in Denver. So, make sure you join us then. And if you found this podcast helpful, please share it on your social channels. And to access our full podcast library of over a hundred podcasts, I will tell you, visit shsmd.org/podcast. And thanks for listening.