“Share, Poke, tag”
This panel drew on the expertise of health researchers, advocates and program managers working with clients of sexual health promotion programs across the country. Presenters spoke about their own work in the use of social media for prevention and control of STIs, with particular emphasis on factors that lead to success and ongoing challenges. The moderator helped connect key issues from each presentation and facilitated a conversation among the presenters to identify promising practices as well as opportunities for new knowledge. A discussion ensued with the audience on drawbacks and advantages of using social media. Topics included how social media has been used for contact tracing, encouraging testing, providing information on sexual health, and alerting users to health services. Issues and questions regarding appropriate evaluation methods were also a focus.
Learning Objectives:
- Describe how social media are used in sexual health promotion programs.
- Identify and compare the outcomes of social media programs in STI prevention and control.
- Assess gaps and opportunities for measuring success (evaluating) social-media-based sexual health programs.
Speakers:
- Chris Buchner, Regional Director of Prevention, Vancouver Coastal Health
- Brian Condran, Graduate Student, Health Promotion, Dalhousie University
- Jody Jollimore, Program Manager, Health Initiative for Men
- Roberto Ortiz, Agent à la recherche et au développement, Rézo
- Joss Reimer, Medical Officer of Health, Winnipeg Regional Health Authority
Session Chair:
Rick Harp, Project Manager, NCCID