1. Digital Tools and Strategies for Creating Healthy School Environments
Salud America!
Digital Tools and Strategies for
Creating Healthy School Environments
for Latino & All Kids
Rosalie Aguilar, MS
National Project Coordinator
Institute for Health Promotion Research
UT Health San Antonio
Program Team:
Dr. Amelie G. Ramirez (Director), Cliff Despres (Communications), Rosalie Aguilar (Project Coordinator), Curators: Amanda Merck, Stacy Cantu, Pramod Sukumaran, Rick Carrillo (Video Production Manager)
Program Funder:

2. Salud America!’s Mission
June 25, 2014
Salud America!’s Mission
Who We Are: A national Latino-focused organization that creates culturally relevant & research-based stories, videos, & toolkits to inform and inspire healthy change & health equity for all.
Why Latinos: Latinos are a rising U.S. powerhouse, but suffer high rates of childhood obesity (~39%), food insecurity (~15%), and other health disparities.
Mission: Inform & Inspire people to push healthy community change and health equity for all people using tailored content for advocate network TX & US
How We Activate Communities: Our award winning multimedia resources help 250,000+ community and school leaders—lead healthy changes so that Latino and all kids and families can equitably live, learn, work, and play.
Champion for Coverage Webinar

3. Healthcare/researcher
Salud America!’s Approach
2012-Now: Fuel Advocates toward Healthy Change
→ Built network of advocates 
→ Conducted research to establish key topic areas
→ Started advocacy website
→ Used “Social Cognitive Theory” and “Digital Content Curation” to communicate online and via social media to fuel community advocates
Community leaders
Moms and dads
Healthcare/researcher
School personnel
&
#SaludHeroes

4. 15,062 Unique Page Views per Month in 2018
Content Curation to Drive
Policy & Systems Change
Curated content on salud-america.org then goes to social and , inciting education and action.
Connect
15,062 Unique Page Views per Month in 2018
Salud America! members…
179─Latino child health policy wins
96 ─general public health policy wins

5. #SaludTues Tweetchats
Curated content on salud-america.org goes to social & , inciting education and fueling action.
#SaludTues Tweetchats average million impressions on Twitter in 1 hour every week!
Sources: Symplur,
Tweetchats in June-July 2018

6. 📣
Digital Campaigns
Salud America! members submitted % of comments HHS got to shape PA Guidelines (‘18)

7. 📣
Digital Campaigns
Salud America! members submitted % of comments FDA got to save menu labeling (‘17)

8. Action Packs For Healthier Schools
With the Action Pack, school personnel get
─ FAQs
─ Template Materials
─ Model s
─ Technical Support
to talk to superiors & peers about student hydration, nutrition, food insecurity, trauma, support for traumatized students with adverse childhood experiences (ACES).

9. Action Packs For Healthier Schools
June 25, 2014
Help school leaders build a case for healthy change through action packs!
Water Bottle Filling Station: Accelerated the conversation for Comal ISD (New Braunfels, TX) to get H20 filling stations!
Trauma Informed Schools: High need (and demand) for this in schools, 318 downloads. Hero John Hernandez, to be recognized by the National Dropout Prevention Center.
Food Pantry: Requests from 105 downloads. Now available on TEA’s website. Multiple requests from schools across Texas (especially rural), provided TA support to schools, 1 school in McAllen started a food pantry.
Champion for Coverage Webinar

10. Food Pantry Action Pack
Schools are often the main food source for many children living in poverty.
State Rep. Diego Bernal recognized the need & worked with legislators to pass the Student Fairness in Feeding Act (SB725).
Allows schools to create their own School Food Pantry and donate certain leftover food to itself, and allow for storage and redistribution.
Jenny Arredondo understood how this could help students and implemented 10 food pantries and shared tables.
Salud Hero: State Rep. Diego Bernal, District 123
"Food insecurity does exist, and hunger doesn’t just stop when the bell rings." —Jenny Arredondo Senior Executive Director of Child Nutrition, San Antonio ISD
Stories available at: salud.to/schoolpantry
salud.to/SAISDpantries
Salud Hero: Jenny Arredondo, SAISD Senior Executive Director of Child Nutrition

11. Community Involvement
We also are in the community!
Mayor’s Fitness Council; health fairs; girls scouts, special series with TV stations, like Chef Johnny’s healthy recipes; and more!

12. Follow us on social media: @SaludAmerica
June 25, 2014
Thank You!
Questions??
Visit our website: salud-america.org
Get our updates: salud-america.org/join/
Follow us on social
Contact me:
Champion for Coverage Webinar