Planning Your First Community Health Translation Project

When starting a health translation project, it’s important to have a clear path and understanding of your target audience to ensure effective communication. Without a translation strategy, you risk failure even with simple materials. The goal is to reach your audience and ensure their understanding of your message, while also maintaining cultural appropriateness.

Here is some advice that will help you successfully complete your first community health translation project:

1. Take the time to understand your audience. The more you understand about their cultural background, literacy levels, existing knowledge and learning preferences

the more targeted your resources will be. For example, if they don’t know what a vaccination is, you need to carefully explain the basics before you urge a community to vaccinate their children.

In case you haven´t noticed, we are implying that your mainstream resource might not be suitable for translation without first making some changes. This is what we call cultural adaptation and you can learn more about how to apply it to public health translation here.

This step is essential to guarantee that public health translations will be appropriate for each of the community groups you are targeting. Remember that public health topics are understood differently in each country. This is because policies are different, strategies might be different and the key messages CALD communities are familiar with might not be the ones you are trying to convey.

2. Translate ONLY what’s important and relevant to your audience. Avoid too much background information unless it’s necessary. For instance, health organisations very often add too much clinical detail which people don’t necessarily understand and is not essential for the objective of the resource.

As we always say, have a very clear idea about what you need your audience to do/learn after reading the health translation. Then, figure out what each of your communities will need to know to do/learn what you need them to.

3. Use plain language! Using plain language for your community health translation content builds trust, minimises confusion and unnecessary phone calls, and simplifies the translation process, reducing the risk of mistranslations.

4. Identify language and cultural considerations: Determine the specific languages spoken by your target audience and the cultural nuances associated with those languages. This will help you select qualified translators who are familiar with the language and culture, ensuring accurate and culturally appropriate translations.

5. Establish a translation team: Assemble a team of translators, editors, and proofreaders who are fluent in both the source and target languages. Collaborate with them to develop a style guide and glossary of commonly used terms to maintain consistency throughout the translation process.

6. Choose the right translation method: Decide whether to use professional translation services, bilingual staff, or community volunteers for the translation project. Consider factors such as budget, expertise required, and the level of quality needed for the translations.

7. Develop a timeline and project plan: Create a detailed timeline that outlines the various stages of the translation project, including translation, editing, proofreading, and quality assurance. Assign responsibilities to team members and set deadlines to ensure timely completion of the project.

8. Consider visual elements: Take into account the visual aspects of your materials, such as images, graphics, and design. Ensure that these elements are culturally sensitive and relevant to your target audience, as they play a significant role in communication and comprehension.

9. Conduct thorough reviews: Implement a comprehensive review process to ensure the accuracy and appropriateness of the translated materials. Seek feedback from members of the target community or cultural advisors to validate the translations and make any necessary revisions.

10. Evaluate the effectiveness of the translations: After distributing the translated materials, evaluate their impact and effectiveness. Collect feedback from the target audience and assess whether the translations have achieved their intended objectives. Use this feedback to inform future translation projects and improve your communication strategies.

Remember, successful community health translation projects requires a thoughtful and systematic approach. By considering these things and following the advice provided, you will be better equipped to embark on your first community health translation project.

No one ever complains when text is too easy to understand. But complicated text … that’s different!

The goal of any piece of text is to be easily read and understood by anyone with a reasonable level of literacy. This requires plain language and it is something we focus on strongly.