Social Media and Public HealthPresented by CRT/tanaka

September 18, 2009

Qualifying Briefly

How Ideas Are Spread

Image: I love the idea by apesara http://www.flickr.com/photos/apesara/2499666202/

whatcanbe: Social Media Can Foster Better Public Health

Image by HVNLY: http://www.flickr.com/photos/hvnlydlite/276886166/

A Public Health Crisis: H1N1

Image via Huffington Post

Chatter

Examples of Chatter

Examples of Chatter

• “H1N1 flu? Wow. All that pork infecting people.”

• “Pigs are the reason for H1N1 flu, don’t eat pork.”

• “U can’t get H1N1 flu from eating pork. Eatup. Regardless of epidemic.”

Source: Steve Radick, http://tinyurl.com/ogoo9e

Factual Response Combats Echo Chamber Chatter

H1N1 Vaccination Conversation

Public Health 2.0: Great Hope Is Prevention

On a Local Level, Social Community Gets Even Tighter

Great Barriers To Adoption

Image takomabibelot: http://www.flickr.com/photos/takomabibelot/2891410941/

Cultural Barriers• Control• Siloed department structures• Use of traditional media, and how that stops

health organizations from integrating social (example: email)

• Federal regulations & malpractice• Publishing content and the processes used to

vet that information• Processes work against public conversations,

transparency• Reward systems don’t encourage participation• IT and Internet access policies

Silo by Eirik Krief

Grasping the Moving Media Environment

Social Media = Communities of People

Seven Community Principles1. Give up control of the message

2. Honesty, ethics and transparency

3. Participation is marketing

4. Audiences versus communities

5. Strategy: Build value

6. Create fantastic content

7. Manage your media forms• Full write-up at tinyurl.com/2ax5d3

The Table Has Turned

Principles to Migrate Towards• Embrace the fact that every doctor, nurse, candystriper, janitor,

etc. could be a content creator• Guidelines for all staff on how & when to use information tools• Provide a policy of embracing prevention & family welfare, use

social to achieve larger objectives• Demonstrate how information can help and hurt the hospital or

organization• Understand that the public expects some levels of transparency,

particularly with loved ones. Disappearing is not the right answer• Instead of controlling the content and messaging, foster other non

medical staff conversations• Create private and safe environments for dialogue and feedback

Questions?

Thank you!