Aronson ID, Cramer A, Quiles R, et al. Developing Spanish Language Intervention Content to Address Health Disparities among People Who Use Drugs, and Other Hard-To-Reach Populations. J Urban Health. Feb 2026;103(1):12-15. doi:10.1007/s11524-025-01050-2
People who inject drugs often face barriers to healthcare, including stigma, disrespect, and fear of mistreatment. These challenges are even greater for individuals with limited English proficiency (LEP), particularly among Latino populations. LEP and low health literacy are linked to lower quality of care, poorer health outcomes, reduced satisfaction, and increased mistrust of healthcare providers. This paper reports a secondary analysis following the development of a technology-based intervention aimed at increasing COVID-19 vaccination among people who inject drugs. Development followed an iterative approach, beginning with qualitative interviews in English and Spanish to identify vaccination barriers. Using this information, intervention videos were developed in both languages with tailored messages for the target population. Between June 2022 and October 2024, 545 participants aged 18 and older who had injected drugs in the past 90 days were recruited through peer referral. All materials, including informed consent forms, were available in both English and Spanish. This secondary analysis of the RCT data aimed to understand how language preferences may have influenced vaccination rates. In this analysis, post-intervention vaccination rates were compared among participants who completed the intervention in Spanish versus those who completed the intervention in English. This was also examined alongside the language that participants reported speaking at home most frequently, the language participants chose for the intervention, and how these factors may have influenced vaccination rates. Participants were asked to identify as Participants who completed the intervention in Spanish were significantly more likely to receive a COVID-19 vaccine at their first visit and at follow-up compared to those who completed it in English. These findings suggest that language choice may influence health decisions. Further research is needed to understand how offering materials in preferred languages affects health outcomes.