1. Racial and Ethnic Identity: Reaching
and Mobilizing Latino Communities
Through an Awareness Day
Miriam Y. Vega, PhD
Vice President
Latino Commission on AIDs

2. The Commission
• Founded in 1990 to fight HIV/AIDS in at-risk
communities nationwide Shaped by national
AIDS advocate Dennis deLeon from 1994 to
2009
• Local , Regional and National Services in more
than 40 States, Puerto Rico & the Virgin Islands.
• Long demonstrated history of building national,
regional and local coalitions
• Five core areas:
 Hispanic Behavioral Research Center
 HIV Prevention & Health Promotion
 Capacity Building Assistance (CHANGE
approach)
 HIV Testing and Access to Care
 Health Policy & Community Picture by: bleacher + everard
Mobilization

3. National Latino
Awareness Day (NLAAD)

4. What is NLAAD
• NLAAD is a national social marketing campaign implemented
every October 15 to encourage HIV/AIDS awareness and
testing in the Latino community.
• Began 2003 as a joint collaboration between Latino
Commission on AIDS and the Hispanic Federation.
• Objectives include:
• Reduction in high risk behaviors
• Increase Latinos’ knowledge about the impact of HIV/AIDS.
• Increase Latinos’ knowledge regarding transmission methods
• Increase counseling and testing services for Latinos.
• Increase knowledge on how best to access care

5. NLAAD Core Activities
1. Recruit National Organizing Committee
2. Community Assessment
3. Event Planning
4. Resource Development
5. Social Marketing
6. Networking
7. Media Activities
8. Evaluation

6. Evaluation Methods: Perspective of Event
Organizers, Media, & the General Latino Public
METHOD TARGET QUESTIONS
Online Survey Registrants/ event holders What type of events are
held, how many people get
tested, how many positives ,
what resources are
leveraged
Street Intercepts General Latino populations Awareness, actions taken,
in cities throughout the US source of awareness
Media Citation Analysis Media coverage How is NLAAD cited, Who is
the audience, When does
coverage begin, Where in
the US
Focus groups Event and Non-event How does NLAAD differ from
holders; other days, what resources
Community members are needed

7. Brief 2010 Survey Results
• 124 respondents that hosted an NLAAD event.
• 55% held their event(s) on October 15
• 78% reported holding an HIV screening event.
– most commonly used method: oral rapid (48%).
• 55% noted that they began to plan for NLAAD between 1
to 3 months prior to the held event.
• 26% : 2010 was 1st time hosting an NLAAD event.
• 3% positivity rate for NLAAD testing events

8. Street Intercepts: 2007-2010
• 1589 street intercepts ; 1314 Hispanic
• Ten cities
– Emerging: DC, Atlanta, Houston, North Charleston,
Rock Hill & Charlotte
– Traditional: NYC, El Paso, Santa Fe & San Antonio
• Racial identification Across all Respondents:
– Caucasian (35%), Black (13%), API (3%), & other (53%).
• Nationality: 44% Mexican, 17% Central American,
15% Dominican, 6% Puerto Rican.

9. Self-Identification of Hispanics
• Race: 7% African American; 2% API; 25% Caucasian
& 66 other
• Self-identification differed by city (x2= .53, df =1080
p=.000:
– with over 90% of Hispanic respondents in Charlotte,
North Carolina identifying as “other” while 0% did in San
Antonio.
• In San Antonio, over 70% identified as Caucasian.
• There were significant differences in reported
NLAAD awareness by racial self-identification with
those identified as Caucasian reporting higher
awareness than others (p=.000).

10. Racial Identification by City

11. Identification, Awareness, & Testing

12. Action Taken by City

13. How Heard of the Campaign

14. Self Classification & Identification
 64% of the US’ Latino population are of Mexican ancestry.
 10% are of Puerto Rican background, with about 3% each
of Cuban, Salvadoran and Dominican origins.
 Many do not relate to the term Hispanic or Latino.
 A 2006 survey by the Pew Hispanic Center found that 48%
of Hispanic adults generally describe themselves by
country of origin.
 2000 Census (first time can pick multiple races):
 48 % of Hispanics reported only White
 42 % of Hispanics reported only “Some other race”
 6% of Hispanics reported two or more races
 2% of Hispanics reported only Black or African American
 Hispanic refers to approximately 30 different nationalities.

15. Self-identity in 2010
Census forms ask people who id as Hispanic to also check what race
they are. There are Hispanic whites, Hispanic blacks, Hispanic Asians
etc. Those who don't identify with existing race categories can pick
"Some Other Race."
 In 2000, about 42% of Latinos adopted that option,
and almost every one of the 15.3 million who picked
that "other" category was Hispanic.
 In 2010, Hispanics from states with large and
established Latino populations increasingly identified
themselves by race - most chose white - rather than
the murky "Some Other Race" that many picked in the
2000 census 15

16. Going Forward
• In creating local campaigns that center around
specific ethnic groups we have to take into
account nuances in racial and ethnic
identification in order to mobilize and engage.
• Local Campaigns may wish to:
– Identify specific sub-groups by nationality
– Use differing images (taking into consideration
census selections and street intercept selections)
– Deconstruct “other”
– Take into account health literacy and messaging

17. Feasibility
• Street intercepts can be done cheaply.
• Can also further the reach of the program.
• By doing the street intercepts, we also engaged
the Latino community and were able to provide
them with HIV testing information.
• The Commission can provide capacity building
assistance and provide the survey that we use.

18. www.nlaad.org

19. Thanks
Miriam Y. Vega
Vice President
Latino Commission on AIDS
24 W. 25th Street, 9th floor
New York, NY 10530
mvega@latinoaids.org