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A Multi-Platform Social Media Campaign to Influence Childhood Obesity Policy Change
INTERVENTION: Between 2013-2014, in partnership with Salud America!, SaludToday launched a year-long campaign which focused on combating childhood obesity in Latino communities. The campaign included an associated Growing Healthy Change website and various social media channels (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, YouTube). Using social media, a Tweetchat series, “Salud Hero” video competitions, and a campaign to get stricter sugar sweetened beverage guidelines in summer camps, SaludToday worked to increase network engagement in advocating for policy changes to prevent Latino childhood obesity.
EVALUATION/RESULTS: By sheer number of network members and social media followers, the campaign has had broad reach via its membership (14,000+ subscribers) and associated social networking pages. On Twitter, SaludToday has nearly 8,000 followers, including prestigious Latino organizations, celebrities, chefs, nutritionists, politicians, and media members. SaludToday has hosted over 25 Tweetchats centered around Latino health issues, such as obesity and cancer prevention. On Facebook, SaludToday has over 1,000 “page likes” with a peak reach of 7,665 people in one day. Mobile phone users are the primary viewers of our YouTube channel which has generated 78,000+ video views and 150+ subscribers. Overall, videos viewed tripled between February 2013 and February 2014.
CONCLUSION: The SaludToday social media campaign serves a model for health organizations to increase their outreach with minimal cost and staff time.
Learning Areas:
Communication and informaticsPublic health or related research
Social and behavioral sciences
Learning Objectives:
Demonstrate the usefulness and impact of social media for advancing health policy.
Discuss the various modes of social media engagement used by the SaludToday and Salud America! Latino health campaigns.
Keyword(s): Latinos, Social Media
Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I have more than 25 years experience directing research programs focusing on human and organizational communication to reduce chronic disease and cancer health disparities affecting Hispanics/Latinos and other populations.
Any relevant financial relationships? No
I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.