Project ESCUCHE: A Spanish-language Radio-based Intervention to Increase Science Literacy

Project ESCUCHE was developed to evaluate the potential to increase science literacy among Spanish-language radio listeners. In collaboration with community partners, we developed a 10-week culturally applicable science and health curriculum delivered through Spanish-language radio. Science literacy was assessed before and after the intervention. Among the 51 participants, 70% were female, 76% were > 35 years old, 60% reported some college education, and 90% preferred speaking in Spanish versus English. The majority of participants (>94%) demonstrated adequate baseline functional health literacy, and 70% reported listening to all ten of the radio programs. Participants demonstrated significant increases in science knowledge post intervention (mean score before intervention 68.4% and after intervention 77%). This improvement was consistent across gender, education level, age, and baseline functional health literacy. Radio has the potential to be an effective method of engaging the Spanish-speaking community to improve science literacy. The results from the ESCUCHE program add to the groundwork for further exploration of how radio programming and other media platforms can be used to impact health.