Value of social media in reaching and engaging employers in Total Worker Health

• Published in: Journal of occupational and environmental medicine Vol. 55; no. 12 Suppl; p. S78
• Main Authors: Hudson, Heidi, Hall, Jennifer
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01.12.2013
• Subjects: Blogging; Health Promotion - methods; Health Promotion - statistics & numerical data; Humans; Information Dissemination - methods; Iowa; National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, U.S; Periodicals as Topic - statistics & numerical data; Social Media - statistics & numerical data; Social Networking; United States; Webcasts as Topic; Workplace; United States; Iowa
• ISSN: 1536-5948
• DOI: 10.1097/JOM.0000000000000035

To describe the initial use of social media by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Total Worker Health™ (TWH) Program and the University of Iowa Healthier Workforce Center for Excellence (HWCE) Outreach Program. Social media analytics tools and process evaluation methods were used to derive initial insights on the social media strategies used by the NIOSH and the HWCE. The on-line community size for the NIOSH TWH Program indicated 100% growth in 6 months; however, social media platforms have been slow to gain participation among employers. The NIOSH TWH Program and the HWCE Outreach Program have found social media tools as an effective way to expand reach, foster engagement, and gain understanding of audience interests around TWH concepts. More needs to be known about how to best use social media to reach and engage target audiences on issues relevant to TWH.