324044
Self-Efficacy of Health Education Specialists to Use Social Media: Implications for Training and Organizational Development
Samantha Paige, MPH,
Department of Health Education and Behavior, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL
Certified health education specialists (CHES) and master certified health education specialists (MCHES) can use social media (SM) to communicate and engage with priority populations. While guidelines for using SM are available, little is known about the self-efficacy of CHES/MCHES who use SM in the workplace. The purpose of this study was to explore the demographic and organizational factors associated with SM self-efficacy in CHES/MCHES. A novel self-efficacy instrument (α=0.98) was used to collect data from a random sample of CHES/ MCHES (n=352). Participants indicated their level of confidence to complete 50 SM tasks for health education purposes on a Likert scale (1=extremely unconfident to 6=extremely confident). One-way ANOVAs were used to determine whether differences existed in SM self-efficacy by sex (male, female, other), age (18-44, 44-64, 65+), years of work experience (>10, 10+), and SM access at work (full/limited access, no access). Significant differences in SM self-efficacy existed by age, F(2, 349)=92.83, p<.001, Scheffé post hoc tests indicated SM self-efficacy was significantly lower for CHES/MCHES 65+, (M=111.66, SD=78.89), as compared to CHES/MCHES 18 to 64 years, p<.001. CHES/MCHES with access to SM at work (M=214.14, SD=45.31) possessed higher SM self-efficacy than those who did not (M=196.28, SD=50.18), F(1,288)=6.19, p=.013. Finally, CHES/MCHES with 10 years of work experience or less reported higher SM self-efficacy than those with more than 10 years, F(1,350)=64.86, p<.001. Health education organizations should consider age, years of work experience, and accessibility to SM in the workplace when formulating organizational policies and delivering SM trainings to their employees.
Learning Areas:
Administer health education strategies, interventions and programs
Communication and informatics
Conduct evaluation related to programs, research, and other areas of practice
Planning of health education strategies, interventions, and programs
Public health or related education
Learning Objectives:
Describe three demographic and organizational factors that impact social media self-efficacy in a random sample of Certified Health Education Specialists(CHES) and Master Certified Health Education Specialists (MCHES).
Identify two implications for organizational policies and the deliver of SM trainings within health education organizations.
Keyword(s): Self-Efficacy, Social Media
Presenting author's disclosure statement:Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I have presented and published on the topic of social media for health education research and practice. Additionally, I have served as a research assistant for funded research projects involving the use of technology in health education research. Finally, I have taken graduate level coursework on social media in health and measurement development.
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.
