Communicating Health Information to Urban Mexican Americans: Sources of Health Information

Abstract

Data from a six-week hypertension campaign aimed at urban Mexican Americans were analyzed to document how they receive their health information and to identify the communication channels most likely to reach different segments of the Mexican-American community. The nine sources of information examined were doctor, nurse, pharmacist, family, friends, radio, newspaper, television, and magazine. The most common source of health information reported was doctor, followed by television, newspapers, magazines, family, and radio. Interview language (Spanish or English) was a significant predictor of the amount of health information received from all nine sources. Sex, family income, education, and age also were shown to affect the amount of health information received from various sources. Profiles of respondents most likely to use each source of health information are presented and implications for health educators are discussed.