Public Health 2.0

Mellanye Lackey, MSI

Health Sciences LibraryUniversity of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

SPH Fellows Program, Chapel Hill, NCJune 11th -July 20th , 2010

Agenda

Part One:• Exploring 2.0 tools and Information Literacy

Part Two:• Branding and Social Media

Part Three:• Social Marketing, Consulting for Public Health• Wrap-up & Evaluation

Objectives

Become familiar with a variety of web 2.0 technologies and their potential uses and applications in public health.

Learn about current strategies for implementing web 2.0 technologies within Public Health organizations.

Act as consultants to recommend effective use 2.0 technologies to promote public health practice.

What is Public Health?

•Focus on individuals

•Diagnosis & treatment

•Clinical interventions

•Well-established profession, standardized education & certification

•Clinical sciences integral; social sciences less emphasized

•Experimental studies with control groups: RCTs.

•Focus on populations

•Prevention & health promotion

•Environment & human behavior interventions

•Diverse workforce, variable education & certifications

•Social sciences integral; clinical sciences peripheral to education

•Observational studies: case control & cohort studies

Medicine Public Health

10 Essential Services of Public Health

Public Health Functions Project, U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services

7

The Knowledge Domains of Public Health

•Biostatistics•Chronic Diseases •Communicable Diseases•Community Health•Disaster Control & Emergency Services•Environmental Health•Epidemiology•General Public Health•Global Health •Health Promotion & Education

•Health Services Administration•HIV/AIDS•Maternal & Child Health•Nutrition•Occupational Health•Public Health Informatics•Public Health Laboratory Sciences•Public Health Nursing•Social & Behavioral Sciences•Vital Statistics & Surveillance

Public Health has a diverse workforce

•Epidemiologists•Statisticians

•Environmental Engineers•Animal Control Officers

•Sanitarians•Food Scientists

•Industrial Hygienists•Health Care Administrators

•Health Economists•Politicians

•Social Workers

•Mental Health Workers•Substance Abuse Counselors

•Doctors•Nurses

•Teachers•Disaster Relief Workers

•Nutritionists•Lab Technicians

•Librarians•Communication

•Security & Enforcement / Health Police

What is 2.0?

Web 2.0 today

• “‘Web 2.0’ describes a change in the way people interact with information online, moving from passive consumption to active creation of content.”

• Scanfeld, D., Scanfeld, V., Larson, E.L. “Dissemination of health information through social networks: Twitter and antibiotics.” American Journal of Infection Control. April 2010; 38(3),182-188. Available from: Scopus, New York, NY, April 26, 2010.

Web 1.0 vs. 2.0

•Web 1.0 was about reading •Web 1.0 was about companies •Web 1.0 was about home pages

•Web 1.0 was about portals•Web 1.0 was about taxonomy •Web 1.0 was about wires•Web 1.0 was about owning

•Web 1.0 was about Netscape •Web 1.0 was about web forms•Web 1.0 was about dialup •Web 1.0 was about hardware costs

•Web 2.0 is about writing•Web 2.0 is about communities•Web 2.0 is about blogs

•Web 2.0 is about RSS•Web 2.0 is about tags•Web 2.0 is about wireless•Web 2.0 is about sharing

•Web 2.0 is about Google•Web 2.0 is about web applications•Web 2.0 is about broadband•Web 2.0 is about bandwidth costs

Joe Drumgoole, http://joedrumgoole.com/blog/2006/05/29/web-20-vs-web-10/

2.0 definition/characteristics/themes/mindset

Openness

Collaboration

Content Creation

InteractionPartnerships

Sharing

Empowerment

Why 2.0?

• Web 2.0 applications are:• Popular: Twitter experienced a “1460% increase in global audience between June 2008

and June 2009.”• Open “space[s] for the informal sharing of health information and advice”

• And provide the opportunity to:• Connect to the public: Organizations are maximizing quick messages to get their news

and info out to highly targeted audiences.• Correct inaccurate information: Twitter “demonstrate[s] the potential reach of this

medium for the dissemination of both valid and invalid information. It is therefore important for health care professionals to have a basic understanding of such services and the nature of the health-related information that is shared on them.”

• Scanfeld, D., Scanfeld, V., Larson, E.L. “Dissemination of health information through social networks: Twitter and antibiotics.” American Journal of Infection Control. April 2010; 38(3),182-188. Available from: Scopus, New York, NY, April 26, 2010.

Why Public Health 2.0?

• “Although troubling to many in public health, the use of the Internet for these purposes simply cannot be ignored. Web 2.0 is here to stay and will almost certainly influence health behaviors. Health is a logical area in which individuals will want to seek opinions from others and communicate their experiences. In this new era, public health officials need to learn how to more effectively listen to these messages and, simultaneously, develop more lively and engaging messages themselves to communicate with the public.”

Kumanan Wilson, MD MSC and Jennifer Keelan, PhD Coping with Public Health 2.0, http://www.cmaj.ca/cgi/content/full/180/10/1080

Web 2.0 Applications & Resources

2.0 technologies: the power of 10

1. Blogs

2. Wikis

3. Collaborative Writing

4. User Reviews5. Geographic Information

Systems (GIS)

6. Microblogs

7. Photo/Video Sharing

8. Social Bookmarking9. Social & Professional

Networking

10. Virtual Worlds

1. Blogs

Definition• “web log”• individual commentary• interactive• regular entries

Blogs

Clients• Google Blog Search• WordPress• Tumblr• Blogspot

Tech to Know• Google reader• RSS feeds

Health examples• The Pump Handle• Effect Measure• WebMD Blogs• HealthNews Blog• Public Health/Health

Administration Blog• Diabetes Mine• Huffington Post

Blogs

Pros• Equal opportunity

publishing• Easy, approachable,

popular, captures narrative

• WYSIWYG

Cons• Some reputable, others

not• TMI• Must continually update

to sustain interest• WYSIWYG

The Pump Handle

WebMD Blogs

http://exchanges.webmd.com/webmd-exchanges/blogs

Diabetes Mine

http://www.diabetesmine.com/

2. Wikis

Definition• Website featuring co-created user content• Collaborative knowledge management system• Tidbit: “wiki wiki” means “fast” in Hawaiian

Wikis

Clients • Wetpaint• Wikispaces• PbwikiTech to Know• Locally hosted vs cloud

computing• Vary from free to

expensive

Health Examples• Medpedia• Wikipedia Health: Ask

Dr. Wiki• WikiSurgery

Wikis

Pros• Fantastic for grp or

internal documents, • Ex. incl grants, manuals• Free clients pretty good• Everyone contributes• WYSIWYG

Cons• Some users have

trouble adjusting to new work environment

• Creating file structure, naming in groupthink is v hard

• Everyone contributes• WYSIWYG

Wetpaint: Origins

“The founders of Wetpaint saw how their friend was having great difficulty finding information about the type of cancer he had. He did find quite a bit of useful facts and information, but he also found a lot of information that he did not need or want. That is when the idea for Wetpaint was sprung. The founders had thought that setting up a company that could connect like minded people or people that share like interests.”

Venture Capital Firms,”Wetpaint, An Internet Company Coming Out of an Individual’s Battle with Cancer” http://vcgate.com/Wetpaint-An-Internet-Company-Coming-Out-of-an-Individual-s-Battle-With-Cancer.asp,

April 27, 2009. Accessed May 3, 2010.

Medpedia

http://www.medpedia.com/

Using Wetpaint for Cancer Info

http://www.wikicancer.org/

3. Collaborative writing

Definition• Written

works/projects/documents created by multiple authors

• How does this differ from a wiki?

Clients• Google Docs• Zoho Docs• Dropbox• Writeboard• Thinkfree

Collaborative writing

Pros• Eliminates need for

sending attachments to email, vpn

• Excellent for groups• Biased opinion: best

thing since sliced bread!• No more track changes• Lives in the cloud• One copy

Cons• Some users have

trouble adjusting to new work environment

• Content owned by company

• No more track changes• Must have internet

access

Google docs

Dropbox

4. User Reviews

Definition• Opinions/comments posted by users• Variety of topics: places of interest (ie:

restaurants, shopping) and people (ie: doctors, lawyers)

User Reviews

Clients/Sites• Amazon.com• Yelp

Health Examples• Yelp Health• Patient Opinion• Rate MDs.com• Angie’s List

User Reviews

Pros• Very approachable,

easy, truly democratic• Positive reviews really

drive traffic

Cons• On the internet, no one

knows you’re a dog.• Negatives more likely to

review

Yelp

http://www.yelp.com/search?ns=1&find_loc=ann+arbor%2C+mi&find_desc=health+clinics

Rate MDs.com

http://www.ratemds.com/

5. Geographic Information Systems (GIS)

Definition• Online mapping of data• Mashups: ability of users to add their own content “layers” to online

mapping. • Application Programming Interface (API):

• Freely available applications• Medium between the map and the user generated content

“The impact of the new Web 2.0 mapping….is that it marks a shift from the academic and commercial domination of GIS to public and community participation.”

Hardey, Michael. “Public Health and Web 2.0.” The Journal of The Royal Society for the Promotion of Health. 2008;128(4),181-189.

GIS

Resources• Google Maps

http://googlemapsmania.blogspot.com/

• Yahoo! Maps• Microsoft Virtual Earth• www.mashable.com• GIS Library at UNC

• Health Examples• Health Map• Who is Sick?• Ifitwasmyhome.com

GIS

Pros• A picture’s worth a

thousand words• Visualizing health

information is intensely powerful.

Cons• Req. coding exp to

develop app• Steep learning curve w

programs like ArcGIS• Lying with maps

(intentionally or not) is very easy.

• Collaborative apps rely on collaborators

Google Mashup shows current H1N1 Victims

Find others with your symptoms

http://whoissick.org/sickness/

6. Microblogs

Definition• Shorter form of blogging• Frequent, brief updates• Uses text messaging, IM, email, Web etc.• Highly selective audience that wants specific info• Three levels of conversation: tweets, responses, back

room chatter

Microblogs

Clients • Twitter• FriendFeed• Identica

Health Examples• Twitter Health• Duke Global Health

Institute• UNC Institute for Global

Health Infectious Disease

• Intrahealth

Microblogs

Pros• Forces us to write

“essentially”• Adoption has been

really quick• We made it our own• Powerful• Attend conferences

virtually

Cons• TMI• What is private? • Academic use unclear

Twitter health

http://twitter.com/health

Microblogging on Mobile Devices

7. Photo/Video Sharing

Definition• Websites for storing, organizing, and sharing

photos and videos• Feature user-created content• Info exists in the cloud

Photo/Video Sharing

Photo Sharing • Flickr• Picasa• Veezzle• Slideshare

Video Sharing• YouTube• Google Video• Vimeo• Skype

Photo/Video Sharing

Pros• Easy to share important

moments with far flung friends and family

• Previously $$$$$$ now cheap

• Environmental impact of photo developing minimized

Cons• What is private? • Personal photos owned

by companies• Industries put out of

business

SlideShare

Nova: Flu 1918

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/sciencenow/3318/02.html

YouTube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWL67xOeQ-E

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_fo6ytlmD0&feature=related

8. Social bookmarking

Definition• System for storing, organizing, searching, &

managing online bookmarks• Publicly accessible• Tag-based classification • Like favorites on your pc, translated to the cloud

Social bookmarking platforms

• Delicious• StumbleUpon• Furl• Diigo

Social bookmarking

Pros• Releases you from

chains of one computer• Collaboratively creating

consumer guides / websites with “best of” easy

• Highlighting websites

Cons• Slow adoption so app

only as strong as community who joins

• Somewhat of a learning curve

Delicious

Diigo

9. Social networking

Definition• Online communities of people with similar interests• Communities of practice

Platforms• Facebook• MySpace• Google Buzz• Ning

Social networking

Pros• Crowdsource an issue• Widespread adoption of

technology• Unparalleled conxn of

users, issues, events• Market forces will make

interfaces/apps better and easier

Cons• Crowdsource an issue• Not always evidence

based, credible, nor authoritative

Facebook

Google Buzz

Watch this video to see the Google’s version of social networking: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yi50KlsCBio&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0&hd=1

Ning

http://healthcareandthesocialweb.ning.com/

http://triangleglobalhealth.ning.com/

TuDiabetes

9.5 Professional Networking

Definition• Virtual communities primarily focused on professional and

business interactions rather than social interactions• “According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 70 percent

of all jobs are found through networking” (Cornell University)http://as.cornell.edu/academics/careers/connect-with-employers/networking.cfm

Examples• LinkedIn• Xing• Kickstart

LinkedIn

10.Virtual Worlds

Definition• Computer-simulated environments• Interaction via avatars• Communication is typically textual• Everything is user generated

Virtual worlds: examples

• Second Life• Active Worlds• Cybertown• Whyville

Virtual worlds

Pros• Works really well for

gaming cultures/ anonymity / debilitating diseases

• 1st step to adoption of new technology is to make it look like the existing technology

• Market forces will make interfaces/apps better and easier

Cons• On the internet, no one

knows you’re a dog. • Please stop doing (XXX)

to the dog. • Steep learning curve• Extreme high costs

(time, computing, learning) to participate

Second Life: Health and Nutrition Game

Increases awareness about the health effects and consequences of eating fast food

CDC in Second Life

Public health in Second Life video

http://mblog.lib.umich.edu/hsl/archives/2008/08/second_life_and.html

Blogs

Microblogs

Wikis

Collaborative WritingSocial Bookmarking

Social/Professional Networking

Photo/Video Sharing

Recap: Web 2.0 Technologies The Power of 10

User Reviews

Virtual Worlds

Geographical Information Systems

(GIS)

Privacy, Security, & Barriers to Using Web 2.0

Common Difficulties with 2.0

Privacy

Authority

Evaluation

Lack of Technological Skills

Difficulties with 2.0

“Web 2.0 facilitates both expert and general public communication of health-related knowledge, which can be particularly problematic for public health authorities. De facto, it juxtaposes vetted scientific opinion against information from critics, crusaders and conspiracy theorists, which undermines the critical foundation of trust between public health officials and the public. This trust is necessary for activities that sometimes require restrictions on individual liberties or impositions on individuals for the benefits of the population.”

Kumanan Wilson, MD MSC and Jennifer Keelan, PhD. Coping with Public Health 2.0, http://www.cmaj.ca/cgi/content/full/180/10/1080

Methods for Overcoming Web 2.0 Barriers

• Comply with HIPAA, confidentiality & ethics• Should patients be FB friends with their doctors? • Make policies for what info will be shared before starting.

• Establish authority online• Consult professional organization literature• Scholarly articles• Online certification

• Teach evaluation skills• Current awareness

• Get to know IT staff for knowledge and firewalls both

TeachEvaluation Skills

http://www.lib.umich.edu/taubman-health-sciences-library/web-searching

Teach Evaluation Skills

http://www.hsl.unc.edu/services/Tutorials/FHI/index.cfm

Current Awareness:Sites to help you keep up

• Emerging Internet Technologies for Education http://www.emergingedtech.com/

• Mashable http://mashable.com/

• Listio-Web 2.0 http://www.listio.com/web20/

• Technorati http://technorati.com/

• iLibrarian http://oedb.org/blogs/ilibrarian/

2010 Top Emerging Technologies

Tech Talk by Enriching Scholarship:• Mobile• Virtual Worlds• Ebooks• Augmented Reality• Gesture-Based Computing

• eg: Nintendo Wii• Data Viz/Data Sonification

/http://etechlib.wordpress.com

Current Awareness

Break

Next steps

Information Bias

Results of the survey you took

Activity: Expand your online presence

Activity: Uncover PH 2.0

Information Literacy By the end of the day, you should be able to:

o Define information literacy and seven related concepts: accuracy relevancy  currency bias intended audience credibility source

o Demonstrate how to evaluate information

Evaluating Information

Is the information accurate? • Can you verify the

information elsewhere? 

• Are there spelling/grammar errors?

• What's missing in the coverage of a topic?

• Does the work cite other sources appropriately?

Is the information current? • When was the piece

written?• Does it list a date? • Have important

changes in the state of the art occured since then?

• Have comments or redactions surfaced?

Evaluating Information

What is the author(s) bias? • Where does the author

work? • Who funded the

research?• What is the author

affiliation? • Does the work

recognize opposing viewpoints?

• Does the author recognize the weak points of the study?

Is the information source credible? • Who wrote the article? • How can you know if

you can trust their work?

• Is the journal peer reviewed? 

• Is the journal indexed in PubMed or other quality databases?

• Who advertises in the journal?

Evaluating Information

What is the intended audience? • What will the final

format be?• Who will read the

piece?• What impact will it

have on readers?• At what education level

is the piece written?

What is the source? • What are the

publication date, purpose, and intended audience?

• Does the piece include other sources of information such as research methodology, bibliography or footnotes?

• What about the context of the material - cultural, physical, other?

Evaluating Information

Is the information relevant or significant to my question? • Is the study primary or

secondary research? • Do I need a review

article?• Does the piece offer in-

depth coverage? or is a synopsis enough?

• Does the study answer my research question?

How does the author evaluate information?

• Does the author offer statistics, charts and tables? 

• Are those items cited?• Does the author

synthesize his arguments throughout the article?

• Does the author make an overall synthesis? 

• Are conclusions concise, clear and logical?

 Which Do You Think is Most Important? 

1.Accuracy 2.Currency 3.Relevancy 4.Bias 5.Intended Audience 6.Credibility 7.Source

Survey results

• 25 participants• Made using google forms

– Best thing since sliced bread

• Participants checked more than one box, so percentages > 100

1. Google yourself

• Two groups– “I didn’t find me.”– “I found myself right away.”

• Lots of FB-related results– How many of you who found FB results in google have

private pages? • What surprised you? • What didn’t surprise you? • Did you change (or want to change) your online

presence as a result of the search?

2. Which of the following social media/web 2.0 sites do you use?

MySpace 8 32%Facebook 25 100%Twitter 11 44%Google Docs 10 40%Google Buzz 1 4%delicious 0 0%Foursquare 0 0%LinkedIn 3 12%Blogs 2 8%Wikis 2 8%Other 1 4%

3) In which of the following social media/web 2.0 sites do you have more than one

profile/account?MySpace 0 0%Facebook 0 0%Twitter 0 0%Google Docs 2 8%Google Buzz 0 0%delicious 0 0%Foursquare 0 0%LinkedIn 0 0%Blogs 0 0%Wikis 0 0%

4) In which of the following social media/web 2.0 sites do you manage an account for an organization or group?

MySpace 2 8%

Facebook 8 32%

Twitter 0 0%

Google Docs 4 16%

Google Buzz 0 0%

delicious 0 0%

Foursquare 0 0%

LinkedIn 0 0%

Blogs 0 0%

Wikis 1 4%

5) Which of the following social media/web 2.0 sites would you like to

learn more about?MySpace 0 0%

Facebook 2 8%

Twitter 6 24%

Google Docs 12 48%

Google Buzz 11 44%

delicious 7 28%

Foursquare 6 24%

LinkedIn 18 72%

Blogs 4 16%

Wikis 5 20%

6) Do you use or intend to use social media/web 2.0 sites to…

7) Based on your responses above, briefly describe your online presence.

Synopsis:• “Most of my posts are on FB.”• “Just to keep up with family/friends”• “Harmless, but…”• “Some personal, but I’m okay with that.”• “None. I keep my life private.”

8) What would you like to learn from the Public Health 2.0 workshop concerning web presences

and the use of social media sites?Synopsis:• Privacy/censorship• Professional networking• Be more effective at searching• Google docs, Linked In• Personal/professional divide

Activity: Expand your online presence

• Why? – Best way to find new uses is to get acquainted with tool for

yourself first.– Think about what/how an organization might use.

• What? – Create accounts for yourselves (dummy accts. ok)– Form communities– Learn and talk about the features of each app– Start using these accounts to manage, promote, discover, etc. – Find web articles discussing how to use 2.0 for business

• We’ll discuss on Friday am.

Activity: Find and form online communities

• What’s your (health) passion? • Find it in the 2.0 tools.

– There will likely be many examples. Be in them. • Friend it; watch it; contribute to it.• Compare and contrast the scene.• Be prepared to report to the group.

Contact information

Mellanye Lackey mjlackey@unc.edu

Public Health Liaison Librarian; Director of Global Initiatives for the Health

Sciences Library @ UNC Chapel Hill