Health Literacy Video Resource

Course Overview:

Health Confianza is a community-focused health literacy nonprofit based at The University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio. This eight-part mental health curriculum addresses topics such as mental health challenges, coping strategies, navigating major life changes, the impact of mental health on family dynamics, and available local mental health resources and services.

As an instructional designer for Health Confianza on this COVID-19 curriculum, I collaborated closely with university professors, health workers (SMEs), curriculum facilitators, a graphic designer, and the communications manager. My responsibilities included conducting a thorough needs assessment, redesigning the curriculum with aligned learning objectives, and developing additional resources and tools to evaluate implementation success.

My main priorities for this course design were:

Actionable and Empathetic: Designed content that allows members to directly apply what they learn to their daily lives. Given the sensitive nature of the topic, I approached the course design with empathy, ensuring that the material resonates with participants' experiences and challenges.
Measurable: Develop evaluation methods to demonstrate that the curriculum effectively supports members' learning needs.
Engaging and Cohesive: Ensure that language, tone, visual layout, and content progression align with Health Confianza’s goals, creating a cohesive and accessible learning experience.

Below are select elements of the overall course. Most content remains proprietary and cannot be shared.

Challenge:

This video serves as a supplementary resource for a ten-part facilitator-led training I developed for Health Confianza. Since many training participants are Spanish-speaking community members, providing resources in their native language is essential. This video accompanies session two of the curriculum and leads participants through a guided imagery meditation designed to reduce stress and enhance focus.

Solution:

To create a video in Spanish using visual storytelling to provide practical strategies and tools that participants could immediately implement in their daily lives.

Tools: Synthesia

Result:

Feedback indicated that viewers felt empowered to address their mental health concerns and those of their families, with many reporting they utilized the coping strategies highlighted in the video. The analytics gathered from the video viewership, combined with participant feedback, provided valuable insights for ongoing curriculum refinement. This data allowed the instructional design team to make informed adjustments to future content and delivery methods to better meet the needs of the community.

ACEs and Trauma Facilitator Notes.pdf

Challenge:

Health Confianza takes an intentionally low-tech, facilitator-led approach, excluding even slide decks from their sessions. This choice aligns with their mission to foster community connections, prioritizing dialogue over technology to create a more personal and interactive environment. Additionally, many participants may have limited access to or familiarity with technology, making this approach more accessible. Although the absence of tech tools can present unique challenges, often making the process more demanding, it ultimately supports the program's goal of aligning form with content.

To the left is a sample of a facilitator guide.

Solution:

Collaborate with SMEs to thoroughly understand their goals, develop clear learning objectives, and create a facilitator guide that aligns these objectives with the club's mission.

Tools: Microsoft Word

Result:

Participants reported reduced stress and enhanced community resilience. By providing community resources and education, we anticipate that participants will experience better mental health outcomes, and decreased healthcare costs.