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Womens Health Societys HPV Multimedia Educational Program: Doing

health education through social media!
Authors: Soto De Jess, D. and Romaguera, J.
RESULTS!

INTRODUCTION !

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The rate of cervical cancer in Puerto Rico is higher than in non-hispanic women in the US,
and yet vaccination rates in Puerto Rico are incredibly low. Currently WHS Facebook page
has over 4,000 fans, over 3,000 of these started following the page in the 3 months after our HPV
Social Media Campaign was launched. These are not ghost fans but people that constantly
engage with the educational content we post. For example, our most popular post (a post
linking to an article created by us with informational images on 7 myths regarding HPV)
reached over 67,000 people, most of these women in Puerto Rico. It got over 300 shares. In
social media, Shares hold the biggest value since it augments the exposure of the post the most.
The results sections shows a table with the top post by reach (people who saw them) and how
people interacted with them.!
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Of WHS Facebook page fans 92% are women, 29% of those are between 25 - 34, and 19%
between 18 - 24, these are groups that could potentially benefit from the HPV vaccine in the
catch up range (which is until 26 years). Furthermore the 25 - 34 group, in addition with the 35 44 group (20% of female fans) are population groups likely to have children or nieces in the ideal
range for the HPV vaccine (9 - 12 years old). Over a third of our audience is from Puerto Rico. On
a qualitative level, it is important to highlight that the educational work is directly impacting
peoples lives: people are writing to thank us for clearing up their doubts in times of uncertainty,
they come to us with questions, and students write to us to refer them to information on HPV.!
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A recent study with a representative sample from the San Juan metropolitan area found that in
women from 16 - 26 years of age only 4.7% had at least 1 shot of the vaccine. Users on our page
are commonly asking questions regarding vaccine safety, where they can get it, how does it work
and how much it costs. Furthermore, many users have complained (through private messages)
that they asked their doctors about HPV but received little to no information. All of this highlights
the need for further efforts in awareness that not just talk about HPV but that address the
specific questions and concerns that people have in a language similar to their own. Social
Media can help to both identify and address these issues.

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Social Media is an ever more present part of contemporary life. Puerto Ricos low vaccination
rates against Human Papiloma Virus (which causes cervical cancer) is an urgent health issue.
Thus Women's Health Society (a nonprofit) created a multimedia educational program where
social media, in particular Facebook has proven key in spreading awareness on HPV. !
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Our objectives are 1) to raise awareness on HPV, its repercussions and prevention alternatives 2)
to use social media metrics to measure who we reach and how they engage with the educational
content so that ever more effective educational efforts can be proposed in the future.

72% of Internet users in the US look for health

information online. 72% of online adults are on
Facebook. (Pew Research Center)

METHODS!
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Create a content network of attractive, easily understandable yet scientifically accurate
multimedia web content. This includes short online videos, blog posts, a responsive webpage and
custom made images with relevant information in small amounts, among others.!
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Actively and effectively promote this content through a social media platform relevant to the target
audience (women in Puerto Rico). This included a series of webinars.!
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Craft campaigns to deliver key content (for example our #HPVMyths social media campaign) to
target audiences. !
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Engage people in conversation, encourage questions and respond promptly. Use feedback as
key information on what your target audience deems important and necessary. !
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Constantly analyze metrics and modify strategy as needed. Strategic decisions should be jointly
taken by both a Social Media expert and a Health expert on the topic. !
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CONCLUSION!
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With over 17,000 women in the US getting HPV related cancers,
it is important that we strengthen and refine our education efforts
regarding HPV. A study by Almeida et al. reported that Hispanics
have less HPV awareness than do non-Hispanic whites. Social
Media can help to both identify and address these issues
through its data gathering tools and seamless integration
into the fabric of daily life.!
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Further research can use content analysis to refine which types
of content are more popular, and gather more public attention.
Our follow up education initiative is contemplating how to
use social media strategies as a call to action to vaccinate
so that we can establish a link between awareness efforts in
social media and vaccination rates.

According to Facebook estimates there

are 2 million Puerto Ricans in Facebook,
of those, 1,100,000 are women.

REFERENCES!

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS!

Almeida CM, Tiro JA, Rodriguez MA, Diamant AL. Evaluating associations between sources of information, knowledge of the human papillomavirus, and human papillomavirus vaccine uptake for adult women in California. Vaccine.
2012:Apr 19;30(19):3003-8. doi: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2012.01.079. Epub 2012 Feb 8. PubMed PMID: 22326776.
Ortiz, A.P., Marrero, E., Muoz, C., Prez, C.M., Tortolero-Luna, G., Romaguera, J., Surez, E. Methods in HPV surveillance: Experiences from a population-based study of HPV infection among women in the San Juan Metropolitan Area of
Puerto Rico. P R Health Sci J. 2015:(In press).!
Duggan, M, Elison NB, Lampe C, Lenhart A, Madden, M. Social Media Update 2014. Pew Research Centers Internet Project Survey 2012-20114. January 9, 2015. Web.!

SaludMujerLatina

DISCUSSION!

SaludMujerLatina.org

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This effort is funded in part by a non-restricted educational grant from Merck in collaboration with
VOCES- Coalicin para la Vacunacin (Non-profit Organization), Effectively Creative Gorup, LLC,
Diana Soto De Jess, New Media Consultant and Josefina Romaguera, MD, UPR Medical
Sciences Campus.

diana.soto.dj@gmail.com