Social Media Campaign: COVID-19 with Safety and Prevention

Social Media Campaign: COVID-19 with Safety and Prevention

 

Covid-19 with Safety and Prevention

Covid-19 is an infectious disease caused by SARS-COV-2, a new viral strand that can spread from an infected person via tiny liquid droplets when they cough, sneeze, speak or breathe. Although most people infected with the virus exhibit mild to moderate symptoms, the disease results in adverse health effects, including prolonged hospitalization, deaths, compromised quality of life, increased care costs, and overwhelmed healthcare systems. For instance, the Covid-19 pandemic accounted for 209 million global cases as of August 2021, with the United States recording over 36 million cases and about 618000 deaths by that time (Magesh et al., 2021). While countries grapple with health policies and containment protocols to prevent Covid-19, reducing its transmission at individual and community levels remains the best containment strategy. As a result, it is essential to bolster individual and community capacity to contain the disease by modeling behaviors and activities in ways that prevent viral transmissions. Therefore, this paper elaborates on implementing a social media campaign to promote community safety and prevent the Covid-19 pandemic. Further, it expounds on social marketing strategies, health disparities pertinent to Covid-19, community resources relevant for safety promotion, and practical approaches for evaluating the campaign.

Community Health Nursing Diagnosis Statement

Covid-19 pandemic contributes to high mortalities, morbidities, lengthy hospitalization, increased care costs and overwhelmed healthcare systems. These ramifications affect healthcare services delivery and livelihood sustainability at local, regional, national, and global levels. According to Magesh et al. (2021), the disease accounted for over 618000 deaths in the United States as of August 2021. Although Covid-19’s severity index is relatively low compared to other life-threatening diseases, its transmission patterns overwhelm health organizations, compromising care quality and timeliness. Therefore, it emerges as a priority for the current national and global healthcare systems.

Health Risks for COVID-19 and the Vulnerable Populations

Everyone is susceptible to the Covid-19 pandemic; however, its effects are disproportionate to low-income individuals, the older adults living in densely populated areas, people of lower socioeconomic status, ethnic minorities, and people holding lower-paying jobs that expose them to the public (Shadmi et al., 2020). The risk factors that increase the likelihood of Covid-19 transmission are exposure to the public, limited access to healthcare services, including timely diagnostics, limited access to health information, health illiteracy, poor housing conditions and sanitation, and individual barriers to proper self-protection due to economic constraints. These factors operate as sources of health inequalities and disparities that compromise preventive measures for COVID-19.

Covid-19 and Health Inequality/Disparities

Although every community member is susceptible to the COVID-19 pandemic, its effects are often disproportionate to people grappling with various determinants of health (SDOH), including poverty, underlying health conditions, and ethnic disparities. According to Magesh et al. (2021), Covid-19 disproportionately affects racial and ethnic minority groups because they exhibit other inequalities such as limited access to timely and quality care, poverty, low-level education, and a lack of insurance coverage. Further, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC, 2022) presents discrimination, healthcare access, use, occupational aspects, housing, and wealth gaps as profound sources of health disparities pertinent to COVID-19. As a result, it is essential to address these inequalities by providing equal health opportunities to people regardless of their diversities.

Primary Community Resources for COVID-19 Prevention

Community resources for preventing COVID-19 include healthcare institutions, schools, administrative offices, local TV/Radio stations, and religious organizations. It is essential to note that institutional collaboration is essential in coordinating the social media campaign to model people’s behaviors and encourage preventive measures. In this sense, healthcare professionals and community administrators will collaborate to provide evidence-based education programs and spearhead preventive protocols. On the other hand, schools, local TV/Radio stations, and religious institutions will share ideal preventive measures with children and other community members.

Evidence-based Practice for Preventing COVID-19 pandemic

As stated earlier, COVID-19 has resulted in adverse effects, including increased mortalities, comorbidities, and overwhelmed healthcare systems. Magesh et al. (2021) contend that the disease resulted in over 618000 deaths in the US as of August 2021. While the pandemic’s effects across various domains, including health, education, and economy, preventing its transmission patterns remains the most profound strategy for disease prevention. Individual and community-level evidence-based practices for preventing COVID-19 transmission include voluntary home quarantine, home-based case isolation, social distancing, closure of learning institutions, and adhering to strict hand hygiene protocols (Nicola et al., 2020). Social determinants of health such as education levels and health literacy affect the utilization of these interventions, validating the need for a social media campaign to bolster knowledge and create public awareness.

Community Health Nursing Social Media Campaign Strategy

Objectives of the Social Media Campaign

This community health nursing social media campaign aim at fulfilling the following objectives:

1. Create awareness and bolster individual self-care knowledge and other interventions for preventing COVID-19.
2. Transforming individual and collective behaviors to sustain evidence-based approaches for preventing Covid-19.
3. Linking community members with community resources and providing equal opportunities to improve health and well-being amidst the effects of Covid-19.

Population-focused Social Marketing Interventions

I will use an integrated intervention mix and insight-driven segmentation as this campaign’s primary social marketing strategies. The integrated intervention mix entails strategies for influencing behaviors, including partnerships, advocacy, and media relations. On the other hand, insight-driven segmentation involves identifying population segments, prioritizing their needs, and developing population-specific approaches for transforming behaviors (Shams, 2018). These strategies will guarantee campaign comprehensiveness and enable me to transform people’s behaviors in ways that support preventive measures for the COVID-19 pandemic, including encouraging people to implement routine hand hygiene protocols.

Social Media Platforms for Communicating the Target Population

This social media campaign’s information dissemination and communication activities will rely massively on various platforms such as Facebook, YouTube, and targeted emails for campaign partners. Also, we will utilize print strategies such as posters, pamphlets, and flyers to reach a diverse audience base. Finally, we will hold public meetings and collaborate with local TV and radio stations to communicate with our audience and ensure timely and targeted communication. Facebook will enable us to post audience-oriented content, including pictures, messages, and flyers. On the other hand, YouTube will enable us to post videos on possible causes of COVID-19, how it manifests (signs and symbols), and effective self-care preventive measures, including hand hygiene. Facebook and YouTube have a widened user base because they are accessible to children, adults, and older adults. As a result, they will facilitate the campaign by enabling tailored messages and engaging illustrations.

How the target population will benefit from the information

As stated earlier, health illiteracy and insufficient information regarding the COVID-19 pandemic may compromise individual and community-level evidence-based practices for its prevention. As a result, this social media campaign will benefit the audience by providing much-sought-after information regarding COVID-19 prevention. Also, the campaign will transform individual perceptions and model behaviors to promote self-care competencies and enhance public health.

Best Practices for Implementing social media Tools for Health Marketing

The primary goal of social marketing in health is to facilitate the acceptance, rejection, modification, abandonment, or maintenance of behaviors by the target population (Najid et al., 2021). This social media campaign makes it possible to develop slogans, logos, and eye-catching visuals to attract the audience’s attention. Also, we can advertise and communicate messages by using reputable individuals such as religious leaders, politicians, and health leaders to appeal for credibility and logic. Finally, conducting face-to-face demonstrations for preventive measures such as hand washing practices can impact knowledge and enhance community members’ self-care competencies.

Social Media Campaign Implementation Plan

Stakeholder Roles and Responsibilities

Clinicians: healthcare professionals will provide guidelines and credible information regarding approved strategies for preventing Covid-19. They will conduct online demonstrations of ideal preventive measures such as hand hygiene practices. Finally, they will collaborate with other stakeholders to develop social media engagement sessions and campaigns schedules.

Public health workers: community-based healthcare employees such as social workers will actively educate the target population regarding preventive measures for COVID-19. Also, they will disseminate information and distribute education materials such as flyers, posters, and pamphlets to reach out to a more extensive audience base.

Local TV) Radio stations management: TV/radio stations management teams will collaborate with healthcare professionals to determine flexible schedules for public meetings and share information regarding the significant objectives of the campaign. They will develop targeted communication strategies to bolster collective understanding of the intended messages.

Religious institutions and leaders: religious leaders will play a significant role in advertising the social media campaign and educating people about appropriate preventive interventions. Also, they will collaborate with other stakeholders in allocating venues for face-to-face interactions and physical demonstration activities by healthcare professionals.

Potential Public and Private Partnerships

The potential public and private partners for this social media campaign include the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the American Hospital Association (AHA), and the USAID. These organizations play a significant role in advocating for community health amid the adverse effects of Covid-19. Therefore, they can impact the campaign’s implementation by partially funding it or raising community awareness regarding evidence-based practices for preventing Covid-19.

Timelines for Implementing the Campaign

The overall campaign will last for about six months before conducting summative evaluations to assess its effectiveness in enhancing an individual’s knowledge and community’s capacity to prevent COVID-19 transmission. The implementation team will provide guidelines, print posters, flyers, and pamphlets to outline objectives and prepare the community for a social media campaign in the first month. The implementation team will collaborate with local TV and radio stations to develop communication sessions and campaigns schedules.

The implementation team will roll out the campaign in the second month by utilizing social media platforms such as YouTube Facebook and targeted emails to individuals. In the third month, the team will conduct a progress-oriented evaluation to assess individual perspectives and opinions regarding the topic. Between the fourth and sixth months, the implementation team will utilize information from progress-oriented evaluation to develop the campaign. At the end of the sixth month, we will conduct a summative assessment to identify areas of improvement and decide the campaign’s trajectories.

Evaluation

As stated earlier, we will conduct progress-oriented and summative assessments to determine whether the campaign aligns with its strategic goals. We shall evaluate the campaign based on various anticipated outcomes, including individual’s awareness of self-care and ideal COVID-19 preventive measures, collective understanding of hand hygiene protocols, and the people’s ability to detect COVID-19 symptoms and communicate them with healthcare professionals. Therefore, we will utilize community members’ feedback and opinions regarding the campaign.

The cost of Implementing the Campaign

The estimated cost of implementing the campaign is $20000 and will cater for personnel expenses (PE) and other-than-personnel (OTP) expenses. The personnel expenses for this campaign will include remunerating advertisers and providing allowances for the implementation teams. On the other hand, the OTP expenses will include sponsoring physical interactions, printing posters, flyers, newsletters, and providing educational materials necessary for health promotion activities.

How Social Media Marketing Promotes Healthier Populations

Social media marketing in health emerges as a profound tool for promoting patient safety in the digital era. According to Grbic et al. (2019), social media platforms enable healthcare professionals to engage with interactive audiences conveniently by eliminating distance and other disparities. Also, social media marketing enables healthcare professionals to transform individual and community behaviors in ways that support disease prevention measures and enhance safety. Eventually, communicating with a larger audience enables caregivers to eliminate inequalities and health illiteracy by spearheading education programs to promote healthier communities. As a result, it is an essential approach for modifying behaviors and supporting health initiatives.

In my future nursing practice, I will utilize social media campaigns to promote health and share information to the public regarding evidence-based practices for preventing diseases and self-care approaches. It is essential to note that social media campaigns can reach a more extensive audience due to the ever-expanding usage of mobile technologies and emerging communication technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and telehealth. Amidst the prevailing promise of improving health by educating communities, social media campaigns can complement face-to-face physical interactions, saving time and reducing the cost of physical learning processes. Therefore, I will embrace social media platforms when advocating for community health in my future nursing practice.

Conclusion

A social media campaign provides opportunities for promoting patient safety and public health amid the adverse effects of Covid-19. The purpose of this social media campaign is to create awareness and improve individual knowledge of self-care interventions and other protocols for preventing Covid-19 transmission. The implementation team will utilize social media platforms such as Facebook and YouTube alongside local TV/Radio stations to share information and demonstrate practical interventions. Eventually, the campaign will improve health, promote interdisciplinary collaboration and services coordination, and eliminate health disparities in the community setting.

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References

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2022, January 25). Health equity considerations and racial and ethnic minority groups. Retrieved March 8, 2022, from https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/health-equity/race-ethnicity.html

Grbic, M., Stimac Grbic, D., Stimac, L., & Sostar, Z. (2019). Digital Marketing in Healthcare. European Journal of Public Health, 29(Supplement_4). https://doi.org/10.1093/eurpub/ckz186.077

Magesh, S., John, D., Li, W. T., Li, Y., Mattingly-app, A., Jain, S., Chang, E. Y., & Ongkeko, W. M. (2021). Disparities in COVID-19 outcomes by race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. JAMA Network Open, 4(11). https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.34147

Nejad, M. S., Harooni, J., Charkazi, A., Shams, M., & Latifi, M. (2021). Using social marketing to promote preventive behaviors related to COVID-19. Journal of Lifestyle Medicine, 11(2), 52–56. https://doi.org/10.15280/jlm.2021.11.2.52

Nicola, M., O’Neill, N., Sohrabi, C., Khan, M., Agha, M., & Agha, R. (2020). Evidence-based management guideline for the COVID-19 pandemic – review article. International Journal of Surgery, 77, 206–216. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijsu.2020.04.001

Shadmi, E., Chen, Y., Dourado, I., Faran-Perach, I., Furler, J., Hangoma, P., Hanvoravongchai, P., Obando, C., Petrosyan, V., Rao, K. D., Ruano, A. L., Shi, L., de Souza, L. E., Spitzer-Shohat, S., Sturgiss, E., Suphanchaimat, R., Uribe, M. V., & Willems, S. (2020). Health equity and covid-19: Global perspectives. International Journal for Equity in Health, 19(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12939-020-01218-z

Shams, M. (2018). Social Marketing for Health: Theoretical and conceptual considerations. Selected Issues in Global Health Communications. https://doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.76509

1. Community Health Nursing Diagnostic Statement

Approaching Competence

Approaching Competence. The community health nursing diagnostic statement does not identify a health concern or risk, does not identify the affected group or community, does not suggest a cause, or does not logically discuss the evidence and/or support for the diagnosis.

EVALUATOR COMMENTS:

The essay provides a compelling discussion of the severity of COVID-19. The submission lacks an appropriately formatted community diagnostic statement that includes all the given components (identification of the health concern, identification of the affected group or community, suggested causes, and evidence and/or support for the diagnosis).

 

 

C3a. Benefits of Social Media Platform

Approaching Competence

Approaching Competence. The discussion does not logically outline the benefits of the selected social media platform for supporting preventative healthcare, or the discussion does not logically describe how each benefit applies to supporting preventative healthcare.

EVALUATOR COMMENTS:

Facebook and YouTube are notably identified as the social media platforms for the campaign. The discussion is incomplete because it does not outline the benefits of the selected social media platforms for preventative health and how each benefit applies to supporting preventative healthcare.

 

F1. Reflection on Future Nursing Practice

Approaching Competence

Approaching Competence. The reflection includes one or more nonspecific or illogical examples of how the social media campaign could apply to the candidate’s future nursing practice.

EVALUATOR COMMENTS:

The paper nicely reflects on how healthcare professionals can use social media campaigns to transform individual and community behaviors. The work is lacking in detail because it does not provide one or more examples of how the social media campaign can apply to personal future nursing practice.