Why adapt to cultural differences?
An important attitude in developing materials for specific populations is to show respect for cultural differences in our society and acknowledge that as Americans we are a society made up of people from many different ethnic, cultural, and linguistic groups. By its very nature, health communication is very personal. Therefore it is all the more important that the individual citizen senses that the material is meant for him or her. Cultural sensitivity of print materials can be positive by including words, images, or situations that are common to the audience’s daily life. But just as important, and a frequent failing of materials intended for Hispanic groups, is to avoid showing ignorance of, or insensitivity toward, a certain audience. One example of this common failing is when materials presented in Spanish are phrased so that it is clear that they were just translated directly from English without regard to local language patterns and word uses. The present guidelines will assist y
