Fotonovela: Get the Lead Out!
Get the Lead Out, a fotonovela, is a health publication created and acted by Alisal High School students under the coordination of their Health teacher, Nathan Voigtschild, and University of California Cooperative Extension staff Kathleen Nolan. The fotonovela project was funded by Literacyworks, with funds from the Public Health Trust. The objective of the project was to create a means to provide information about household lead contamination in an accessible and culturally acceptable way.
Please see this link to a news article in the Salinas Californian newspaper yesterday about the new fotonovella on lead poisoning prevention that was developed through a grant to Literacyworks from the Public Health Trust, in partnership with local community-based organizations and residents in Monterey/Santa Cruz Counties.
The fotonovella project involved integrating content from existing lead prevention education materials, including the lead in candy flier from the Public Health Trust, into a fotonovella format for English and Spanish audiences. This was accomplished through the Cooperative Extension in Monterey-Santa Cruz counties, with the primary objective being to answer a need for community health information on lead contamination in a form and voice that would be familiar and acceptable to local residents. The students worked with local health professionals and community residents to tailor lead prevention messages for a broader reach in the youth audience as well as to address the transnational community health themes both the youth and health professionals in the area believe are critical to reaching diverse audiences. The fotonovella comes in both English and Spanish.
The target audience for Get the Lead Out! was defined as (most particularly) the Oaxacan community in Seaside and Alisal, CA, but low-income families in adjacent areas, especially from neighborhoods with high levels of risk factors present, were also addressed. This definition informed the dissemination plan, which concentrated on clinics, schools and family resource centers in the defined and adjacent geographic areas (Seaside Health Clinic, Soledad Unified School District; Clinica de Salud in Soledad and Gonzales; Gonzales Unified School District; MLK School in Seaside); provided material upon request to agencies (Children's Book Project; Monterey County Libraries; W.I.C. lobbies and Children's Power Play Campaign; Nutrition and Fitness Collaborative of the Central Coast; Go for Health! Santa Cruz County; Lead Grant Group- Santa Cruz County) and also provided a substantial number for distribution from W.I.C. retail outlets.
W.I.C. retail outlets are generally corner-store-type operations; groceries that must meet certain W.I.C. criteria, allow staff to be trained in W.I.C. program procedures, and stock and sell W.I.C.-approved food items that are paid for with W.I.C. checks. Customers of such stores are part of the target audience for public health information as is provided in the Get the Lead Out! fotonovela. There are 552 W.I.C. retail outlets in Monterey County. Monterey County Cooperative Extension Monterey County Fotonovelas website
Additionally, the fotonovela has been distributed at various special events in Monterey County.
Get the Lead Out! Attachments
- The Californian news article: Alisal students become
lead detectives - Student lead detectives
- Fotonovela distribution report
- Get the Lead Out! fotonovela evaluation template
- Get the Lead Out! fotonovela English
- Get the Lead Out! fotonovela Spanish
Download Adobe Acrobat Reader
