Developing an online presence as a strategy for engaging the public in a state biomonitoring program: Successes and limitations

Biomonitoring California is designed to generate data on the presence of environmental contaminants in the state's residents, and on how contaminants vary over time and across different populations. Engaging the public is vital to the program's success. Our aim is two-fold: to convey accurate and understandable information, and to enable stakeholders to contribute to the program's development and implementation by engaging in dialogue with them. In California, a large and diverse state, finding effective ways to communicate with stakeholders is a major challenge, especially given limited resources. Stakeholders showing interest in the program include: those biomonitored, public health scientists, environmental and occupational health advocacy groups, epidemiologists, green chemistry researchers, health educators, risk communication specialists, and government and industry scientists. Developing an online presence was one of several strategies the program explored early on, through use of a website, webcasts of workshops and meetings, online surveys and email subscription list tools. Responses were positive, and over time website visits and listserv subscriptions have continued to grow, giving us evidence of the importance of our online presence. Drawing on stakeholder suggestions, we are further developing online materials and the website user interface – to explain the program, provide information on chemicals monitored, and release program results. Despite limitations of the strategy and the challenge of staying relevant in a rapidly changing social media environment, our experience demonstrates that cultivating an online presence is an important element in effectively engaging the public in Biomonitoring California.