Sharon E. Barrett (US) to speak at Diversity in Health
Our second keynote speaker at Diversity in Health brings over 30 years of expertise in health care for underserved and minority populations.
Sharon E. Barrett consults on minority and women's health issues, primary care, health literacy, language access and cultural competence.
She is a staff consultant to the Association of Clinicians for the Underserved, where she has served as a principal investigator on studies examining the health literacy practices of safety net providers, and language access issues in primary care settings. Read more
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Marketing 'health' in a multicultural country
Multicultural marketing gets its own panel discussion at Diversity in Health 2010.
So you're about to start a community education campaign. Maybe you’re getting young mums to test for diabetes. University students to use condoms. Middle-aged men to stop smoking and eat fruit.
 You probably spent some time segmenting your audience by age, gender, location and even socio-economic status. But did you take culture into account?
The health promotion world is littered with stories of campaigns that did well with Anglo-Australians but completely missed the mark with CALD groups. Practitioners keep scratching their heads and wondering what went wrong – after all, they got everything translated, didn't they?
Culture plays an enormous role in the way we understand health, the way we perceive illness, and the actions we take to protect our health. Culture also affect the way we use words, understand symbols, approach humour and respond to threats.
This is why translating an advertisement or brochure that was written for an Australian-born audience can never convey the same meaning, intensity and connection.
 Pino Migliorino, managing director of the marketing consultancy Cultural Perspectives, is one of the few multicultural marketing experts in Australia. He has built a career on helping government and corporate clients to effectively reach CALD audiences with targeted campaigns.
"Too many people think about CALD communication in terms of simple translation or advertising in ethnic media," says Pino.
"In fact, CALD audiences should be a part of your communications strategy from the very beginning. They should inform the approach you take, the messages you choose, and the tactics you use to deliver these messages."
The more sensitive the issue in question, the more targeted your campaign needs to be. As Pino explains: "Take for instance a campaign to increase immunisation versus a campaign to reduce domestic violence.
"For immunisation, you have an audience who are already interested and supportive, because they want healthy kids. They need simple factual information, so they can take action. Therefore your strategy may be to run radio advertisements with a simple factual message, combined with information brochures at health centres.
"Domestic violence, on the other hand, involves behaviours that are often hidden or embedded within customs and belief systems. You may find significant resistance to your campaign from communities, families and individuals.
"In this case, you may need bilingual peer educators, special community meetings, and messages developed by the community using their own language and concepts."
Pino and other marketing experts will share their insights at a special panel event at the Diversity in Health conference.
Marketing Health in a Multicultural Country will focus on how to gain deep insights into your audience, how to craft culturally relevant messages, how to test these messages, and how to choose appropriate communication channels.
More about the Marketing Health panel.
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We’ve asked you to tell us what you find most challenging about working in a culturally diverse environment.
Here are three great responses:
"Cultural competency at an agency wide level - not just for individuals."
Our keynote address ‘What is cultural integrity in service delivery?’ will examine the need for an agency-wide response that places the client at its centre.
"Lack of evidence base for multicultural health. Systematic exclusion of CALD from national data collection and health surveys."
Keynote speaker Mark Johnson is co-director of the UK Centre for Evidence in Ethnicity, Health and Diversity. No doubt he'll have plenty to say on this issue.
"I work in a GLBT organisation and reaching people who are not of Anglo-European background can be very challenging. These people are a minority within a minority."
Our Culture, Health & Sexuality stream is an excellent place to discuss the overlapping aspects of diversity within someone's identity.
What else challenges you? Tell us.
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