by Margaret Henderson
Huntsman Cancer Institute’s publication “Radon Awareness Social Media Toolkit” (January 2016) explains the benefits of using social media and gives step-by-step guidance on establishing a radon awareness social media campaign.
Thirty percent of homes in Utah have radon levels higher than 4 pCi/L and the State Department of Environmental Quality Radon Project and the Huntsman Cancer Institute encourage testing all homes and mitigating high levels of radon.
The use of social media reaches large audiences and is believe to be an important tool in conveying information on radon. As noted in the toolkit, as of January 2014, Pew Research related that 23% of adults use Twitter and 71% of adults use Facebook. The Social Media Toolkit discusses using videos, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
Huntsman Cancer Center has had notable success using social media messaging during 2015 and 2016 in reaching large audiences with modest costs. The combined views for Facebook and YouTube for 2015 and 2016 (to date), totaled more than 136,056 with Facebook boosted post costs of $800.00. Facebook reach for that period totaled 194,626.
The Toolkit provides:
- definitions;
- strategies for creating a social media campaign;
- tips on scheduling posts;
- sample Facebook posts and Tweets;
- helpful links;
- best practices;
- health communication tips; and
- other information.
Additionally, the Toolkit includes portions of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Social Media Toolkit http://www.cdc.gov/socialmedia/Tools/guidelines/pdf/SocialMediaToolkit_BM.pdf. This includes guidance in social media analytics and metrics.
For more information about radon in Utah, contact:
Eleanor Divver, Radon Project Coordinator
1950 West 195 North
Salt Lake City, UT 84114
edivver@utah.gov
801-536-0091
For information about the Radon Awareness Social Media Toolkit, contact:
Patient and Public Education
801-581-6365
http://www.huntsmancancer.org
United States