2023 Health campaign report

During the 2023 growing season, The Village, in partnership with Mayo Clinic Center for Health Equity and Community Engagement Research, initiated a comprehensive campaign to raise awareness about cancer prevention. This impactful campaign featured engaging videos, with participation from farmers in the village and insights from Mayo Clinic experts. After viewing these informative videos, participants were invited to share their thoughts and insights by completing the survey we are now sharing the data from.

Key Findings:

Educational Impact: A significant majority of respondents (66.67% strongly agreed, 33.33% agreed) found the videos highly educational regarding the benefits of nutrition in reducing cancer risk.

Similarly, 83.33% strongly agreed and 16.67% agreed that the videos enhanced their understanding of sun protection methods.
Relevance: The content was universally relevant, with 100% of respondents indicating its relevance to themselves or their families.
Likelihood of Information Utilization: An impressive 81.82% expressed being extremely likely to apply the information in the next month, while 18.18% were somewhat likely.
Language Accessibility: A noteworthy 90.91% of respondents knew how to change YouTube subtitles to their native language, ensuring accessibility for a diverse audience.
Sources of Health Information: When seeking health information, the survey revealed a balanced reliance on primary sources:
- 38.89% rely on information provided by healthcare professionals (doctors).
- Another 38.89% turn to the internet for health-related information, indicating diverse sourcing.

Implications:
The overwhelmingly positive responses regarding educational impact, relevance, and the likelihood of information utilization suggest that our content effectively addressed the audience's needs. The ability to cater to a diverse audience, as seen in language accessibility and varied sources of health information, underscored the broad reach and impact of our educational initiatives.

On September 19, we also held a listening session aimed at enhancing communication between farmers and the village, as well as improving the dissemination of information about events and resources within the community. Our efforts in these areas underscored our commitment to raising cancer awareness and fostering a stronger, more connected community dedicated to supporting those affected by this disease.

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What We Heard from Farmers:

Identifying Beneficiaries for Enhanced Communications:
- How can we determine which community garden members would benefit most from specialized communications about cancer prevention and healthy gardening practices?
  - Interpretation in person.
  - Communicate with elders.
  - Bring awareness of cancer, especially in immigrant communities.
  - Prefer information in native language.
  - Increase outreach (Cambodian, Spanish, Kenyan languages).
Establishing the Communication Network:
- What is the best approach to collect contact information from community garden members, ensuring a robust and efficient communication network?
  - Hard to reach if the telephone number is unrecognized.
  - Call everyone in their native language.
  - Utilize WhatsApp group, Telegram, etc.
  - Team meeting after each market.
  - Consistent weekly meetings or recap announcements.
  - Text messages in native language.
Effective Material Dissemination:
- Considering the resources provided by institutions like the Mayo Clinic, how can we effectively distribute written materials on cancer prevention to community members in anticipation of upcoming community events?
  - Email material in native language.
  - Text material with pictures or illustrations.
  - Attend engagement opportunities in person.
  - Community board or little library with materials in native language in both gardens.
  - Share a calendar with upcoming events.
Preferred Channels for Direct Communication:
- Which communication methods, such as direct phone calls, WhatsApp, or other platforms, are most preferred by community garden members for receiving direct messages or announcements?
  - In person.
  - Create engagement opportunities in person during the winter months.
  - Engagement opportunities for specific language groups during the winter months.
Ensuring Timely and Clear Communication:
- How can we guarantee that communications, especially about cancer prevention and gardening, are timely, easily understood, and accessible to all community garden members?
  - Native language, videos, pictures in materials.
Feedback and Engagement:
- What type of resources/guidance would be recommended for sharing information about cancer prevention and healthy gardening practices? How can we collect feedback from community garden members to ensure ongoing improvement in our communication strategies?
  - Share information about cancer-fighting vegetables.
  - Information about high blood pressure and diabetes in multiple languages.