USING SOCIAL AND MOBILE MEDIA TO REACH TEENS Ruth S. Buzi Peggy, B. Smith Baylor College of Medicine Teen Health Clinic Houston, Texas
Aug 04, 2015
USING SOCIAL AND MOBILE MEDIA TO REACH TEENS
Ruth S. Buzi Peggy, B. Smith Baylor College of Medicine Teen Health Clinic Houston, Texas
PRESENTATION OBJECTIVES
1. Review interactive and electronic venues (mobile, social media, Internet) for client interaction and for promoting sexual health
2. Discuss the effectiveness of new technology used in patient education and communication
CLINICS’ MISSION
A system of 9 school, community, and hospital clinics in Houston Provide quality adolescent health care services
that are equal or better than the private sector Educate and train health care professionals Evaluate all programs
POPULATION SERVED
Female and male adolescents ages 13-23 years (males can be seen up to 25 and at any age as partners)
Majority are low-income Majority are African-American (50%) or
Hispanic (45%) A total of 10,000 unduplicated patients are
served annually 82% females and 18% males
COMPREHENSIVE CLINIC SERVICES
Family planning including STD screening and treatment
Prenatal care using the Centering Pregnancy Model
Primary care Individual counseling and crisis intervention Sports physicals Educational and employment services for young
fathers Routine Opt Out HIV Testing
THE PROBLEM
In 2011, 286 youth (people age 13 to 24) were diagnosed with HIV in Houston/Harris County.
This equates to 22.8% of all new HIV diagnoses in Houston/Harris County in that year.
Larger proportions of newly diagnosed youth were (1) African American (64.7% v. 52.1%) and (2) MSM (73.4% v. 60.8%).
WHY SOCIAL MEDIA?
Complement traditional communication Share information in new spaces Connect with new audiences Encourage engagement and interaction with
the content Empower people to make healthier and safer
decisions
TECHNOLOGY PLATFORMS- GOALS
Encourage teens to modify their sexual risk behaviors, increase clinic utilization, reduce STI and pregnancy, and promote positive health behaviors.
CLINIC TECHNOLOGY PLATFORMS
Upgraded Website (teenhealthclinic.org) Social Networking Sites Presence (Facebook,
Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat) Short Message Service that send out weekly
health education messages Web-based and Apps Outreach (Adam4Adam,
Grindr, Craigslist, Jack'D) Community awareness - 6th Annual Technology
Conference-June 10, 11, 2014
CLINIC TECHNOLOGY PLATFORMS (CONT.)
Tiff and Ty are avatars used to communicate with website visitors who can email questions and receive a response within 24 hours
Online videos integrating health messages into age-appropriate scripts based on various behavioral change theories
Short films created by young people communicating messages about HIV prevention
WEBSITE AND SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES
SMS
About 800 receive weekly messages Examples: Today is World’s AIDS Day. Please join us in the
fight against HIV/AIDS and continue to work towards an AIDS-free generation. Tiff Teen Clinic
October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month, a time to build awareness towards safe and healthy relationships for all individuals. Tiff Teen Clinic
SMS EVALUATION
Focus groups were held with SMS recipients Participants indicated that the service is beneficial
and promotes awareness among teens about healthy sexual behaviors.
Recipients were also asked to send in their feedback about the service via SMS.
Example: “They are very useful. I take them into consideration and share them with my family and friends and use it in my everyday life.
ASK TIFF
Online portal for anonymous questions provides a way for teens receive immediate, accurate advice without the risk of embarrassment or rejection.
Electronic platforms also serve as a means for teens to engage in open dialogue about sexual issues in a non-threatening manner.
Responses of 626 users who contacted the clinic via email were analyzed
THEMATIC ANALYSIS ASK TIFF
Concerns about cost of the clinic’s services and testing for sexually transmitted infections.
Questions revealed lack basic sexual health knowledge and many common misconceptions.
Online question portals are effective venues for teens to quickly and anonymously obtain accurate information on sensitive issues.
WEB-BASED AND APPS OUTREACH
Total of 148 individuals contacted on Grindr in September, 17 total responses, a rate of 11.49%
AA, 12, 8%
White, 41, 28%
Latino, 68, 46%
Asian, 8, 5%
Mix/other, 19, 13%
Race/Ethnict Breakdown of Individuals Contacted
AA
White
Latino
Asian
Mix/other
AA, 1, 6%
White, 5, 29%
Latino, 9, 53%
Asian, 0, 0%
Mix/other, 2, 12%
Response to message
AA
White
Latino
Asian
Mix/other
SHORT FILMS CONTEST
Organized a media contest, encouraging patients and youth in the community to script short films to educate young people about HIV prevention and testing.
The first prize winner, Voices for Victory Over HIV, is based on texts received from our SMS recipients who were asked to share messages for HIV prevention.
YOUTH VOICES
SOCIAL MEDIA SUCCESS
Community Building Engaging Audiences Increasing Reach General Awareness, Promotion Creating a buzz
CONCLUSIONS
Web-based outreach can encourage larger populations to get tested for HIV and receive prevention messages
Engaging young people in disseminating messages about HIV prevention through social media can be effective in reinforcing prevention messages
The number of HIV cases have increased following the implementation of the media campaign.
THANKS
Support for this work was provided by the following:
The Spirit Golf Association FOCUS, Gilead Sciences Inc.
PLEASE VISIT US
www.teenhealthclinic.org Dr. Ruth Buzi: [email protected] Dr. Peggy Smith: [email protected]