LI Course
CE Hours: 6 contact hours

Partnership: One of the presenters is a member of the Public Health Education and Health Promotion (PHEHP) section. However, this Learning Institute will be of practical value to any member of the public health community working in the areas of prevention, promotion or protection who must connect with the public, policy makers or other constituents.

Statement of Purpose and Institute Overview: The purpose of this course is to convey practical knowledge and skill in using social media and interactive technologies to improve public health outcomes. These tools represent field-proven, cost effective means of accelerating policy, practice and behavior change. The case material employed is continuously updated in this rapidly evolving social media environment. There is a compelling educational need for this course. Social media and interactive technology are essential to public health practice. Comprising online social networking, e-communities, the blogosphere, and more, social media has changed the way the public, policy makers, the media and others take action about health. Going beyond Web-based information, social media enables exchange, dialogue, and the development of new communities and new norms that impact behavior. Significant results in health risk reduction are among the outcomes. Policy influencers also reference the scope and depth of social media discourse and social reputation indexing. Public health practitioners must gain-and maintain-working mastery of these tools. This course is exclusively designed for public health professionals employing data, open source software, technologies and case studies of specific relevance to public health. Participants will learn about the social media environment; experience and apply social media tools and interactive technology to public health challenges; and leave prepared to educate others and integrate social media tactics into their program planning to improve health outcomes. Case studies will span such topics as unintended pregnancy prevention, chronic disease management, childhood obesity reduction, and emergency preparedness. As social media use grows, managing and evaluating social media are important skills to master. So is implementing policy and practice related to privacy, the digital divide and other social issues. Every public health leader requires these core competencies. The presentation team comprises highly experienced public health, social marketing and social media experts. Each has extensive experience working with public health organizations and in applying social media and interactive technology. Each is also an experienced adult educator. Presenters will share knowledge gained from working with such organizations as the Centers for Disease Control, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, NACCHO and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, as well as local, regional and state public health departments and health activist and advocacy organizations. Their commitment is to deliver a program will be engaging, and will be accurate, reliable, and meet APHA’s rigorous standards of objectivity, professionalism and value to participants.

Session Objectives: Differentiate between the five core platforms of social media (social networking; blogosphere, e-community, search/reputation management, RSS) and understand their applicability to public health. Develop a 10 point social media and interactive technology plan focused on influencing policy, practice and behavior change to improve health outcomes. Apply best practices and apply new skills for managing and evaluating the application of social media to health policy, practice and behavior change.

CE Credits: Medical (CME), Health Education (CHES), Nursing (CNE), Public Health (CPH)