Meet our Spanish language services team

At PRR, we strive to meet people where they are and communicate with them in the languages they prefer. We remove barriers that prevent people from meaningfully engaging in their communities and on projects that touch their lives. For PRR, it is not just about reaching audiences in culturally meaningful ways but providing people access to information as part of the democratic process.

Spanish is the second most common language spoken in the U.S., after English. To effectively engage community members who use Spanish, PRR has dedicated Spanish language staff members. Our Spanish language services team provides our clients with Spanish language support at the same high quality as the English language services we provide. Team members have Hispanic, Latinx, Latino, and Latina identities who can effectively implement inclusive engagement. Our staff reflects the demographics of the people we want to reach, and experience and comfort working in the communities we serve.

Our work in action /Nuestro trabajo en acción

• The Washington State Department of Health (DOH) hired PRR to implement a statewide prescription opioid awareness campaign. While the overall rate of overdoses has remained steady in Washington state since 2015, the number of opioid-related fatalities are increasing for people who are Black and/or Latinx, including people who use Spanish. That’s why DOH and PRR  created resources for those who need them most.
• PRR’s Spanish language service team members were brought into the project early to assist with planning and implementation of the ads, beyond translation. They interviewed people who use Spanish and who experienced prescription opioid addiction in Washington state to generate authentic storylines and transcrete materials, including a video. One team member is a native Spanish speaker from Central Washington, helping ensure the scripts made sense and were culturally resonant and impactful in Spanish. To that end, she oversaw the hiring of talent who spoke the style of Spanish used in Central and Eastern Washington, not Mexico, Texas, or Spain. Check out the video!
• PRR also developed a paid media plan to reach priority audiences through a variety of platforms, including digital, television, and radio programming in Spanish. The campaign exceeded our expectations of just over 3 million impressions, with 4.3 million estimated impressions through paid placements. In terms of effectiveness, our evaluation survey recorded an 11% increase in respondent understanding that anyone can become addicted to prescription opioids, a 6% decrease in people falsely believing pain medications containing opioids are not addictive if prescribed by a doctor, and 76% of respondents said they will dispose of unused medications safely with the take-back program.

PRR’s language services team has grown to reflect our clients’ needs and investments to equitably reach all people in the communities we serve. We currently provide services in twelve languages.  Our team members provide strategic guidance on communications and outreach plans, facilitate in-language focus groups, and conduct in-language outreach, and provide transcreation and translation of project materials. PRR’s language services team includes regular staff members, bench staff members, and vendors.

For more information about PRR’s language services, contact Brett Houghton, director of PRR’s DEI practice.

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