Groups Target Young Latinos With CPR Training Video

Research shows that Latinos are less likely to survive an out-of-hospital cardiac emergency than other groups.

But a new video  (opens in a new tab) from the American Heart Association (AHA) and the Anthem Foundation, which is specifically targeted at Latino millennials, hopes to better those statistics—all while continuing the groups’ efforts to teach hands-only CPR.

“Latinos and blacks in the U.S. are at higher risk for out-of-hospital cardiac arrests with poor outcome,” said Dr. Craig Samitt, chief clinical officer at Anthem, Inc. “Latinos in particular are 30 percent less likely to have CPR performed on them in a cardiac emergency, making them in particular less likely to survive.”

Since survival chances significantly shrink if cardiac arrest victims do not receive CPR from a bystander, Dr. Gustavo Flores, an AHA instructor and a director at Emergency & Critical Care Trainings LLC, said the groups were looking to boost the survival rates among Latinos, an underserved yet growing segment of the U.S. population, by teaching the technique.

Flores added that Latino millennials are a key group to target to bring the video’s message and actions to their communities because not only are they the largest Latino subset—one in four are millennials—but they are also more likely to feel empowered to take action and use the CPR knowledge they gained from a video.

In addition, as the organizations push the video  (opens in a new tab) out through social media and digital channels, the millennial population is the most likely to see it.

But even though millennials are more likely to watch videos, the organizations still needed to figure out how to best communicate their message in a way that would resonate with them. Creating the message started with understanding the culture of the population and working out a theme that permeates the demographic.

“It’s a combination of using the medium that people are showing great interest in, both from the platform standpoint and from the user standpoint, and at the same time making sure that it’s culturally relevant,” Flores said.

The video aims to reach the audience in its context, specifically by first focusing on life in a family household where mother knows best, then through the use of Spanglish.

“It incorporates Spanglish—part of the dialogue is in Spanish and part of the dialogue is in English—which reflects the fact that multicultural families commonly communicate that way,” Flores said. CPR instructions are then also shared in both languages.

Since 2012, AHA and Anthem have been educating the public about hands-only CPR using a variety of tactics, including video and digital messaging, live demonstrations, and training in airports. Samitt said it’s about speaking to people where they are. “If we can get people’s attention in a culturally relevant way so that they’re listening, we’re going to save lives as a result,” he said.

(YouTube screenshot)