Authenticity is key to connecting with people around their health.
Utilizing technology to create behavior change takes an entrepreneurial spirit, passion to make a difference, and a holistic view of health.
A possible explanation for the reason that Health has generated its own “2.0″ term are its applications across health care in general, and in particular it potential in public health promotion. One author describes the potential as “limitless”. (Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_2.0)
The Health 2.0 Conference is the leading showcase of cutting-edge technologies in health care, including Online Communities, Search and lightweight Tools for consumers to manage their health and connect to providers online. Above all, Health 2.0 remains a venue where innovation in technology is introduced and ground-breaking ideas are shared to drive change in the health care system.
Articles and videos from this conference are quite thought-provoking for our outreach and engagement coming out of academia.
See What’s the point of Health 2.0?for a video and article coming from this conference. A final quote from the video:
“Use Technology to Expand the Human Element”
In the time since launch (2005), the company has expanded to 9 disease categories, with plans to expand to many more. The company was named as one of the “15 Companies that Will Change the World” by Business 2.0 and CNN Money.[2] It was also featured in a March, 2008 New York Time Magazine article entitled “Practicing Patients”[3] and in December 2008 on a television segment with Sanjay Gupta for the CBS Evening News.[4]
The latest issue of Educause has an article entitled, Web 2.0 Storytelling: Emergence of a New Genre
My interest in digital storytelling began in 2003 when I was a graduate student. My focus was a project using blogs to build healthy communities. I think I will always continue on looking for the right project that involves digital storytelling to incorporate into our center program outreach.
I came across some software called “VoiceThread“. Have you heard of it? Check out this example of it showing how different voices share their story and perspective on an image.
CogDogRoo is a site of 50+ web tools you can use to create your own web-based story. These have unlimited uses for educational outreach. It takes being creative and having the courage to try something new.
Here are some interesting papers on digital storytelling related to public health:
David Eckoff, VP of New Product Development & Innovation at Turner Broadcasting was a memorable speaker at PodcampSoCal.
He shared that there is just one question to ask when evaluating the success of a social media project – Do you know what that is?
The one question to ask your audience is…….
“Would you recommend this to a friend or colleague?” Rate 0 to 10.
Those that rate it 9-10 are Promoters (they create “buzz” and are the most important to build an audience and community)
7-8 are Passive
0-6 are Detractors (which create the opposite of a “buzz” and will keep people away).
This is why getting feedback is key. And to get feedback, you must be connected to your audience. Check out MyChingo. It allows people to give you audio feedback very easily from your site. It is quick and easy for them, and perhaps you will want to insert this audio feedback into your podcast.
As I mentioned earlier, I attended the Podcast and New Media Expo last month in Ontario, CA. Some of the presentations were designed specifically for educators. I soaked up so much valuable information. I was also a bit overwhelmed with how little I knew, and I see that I could be on the computer 24/7 to keep up. Baby steps and just having the courage to try new things is most important. Action, not perfection.
I’m happy to offer you for free a front row seat at the panel discussion focusing on podcasting in K-12 education. Dr. Kathy King and Mark Gura recorded the presentation as a ”Director’s commentary” on their Teacher’s Podcast. You will also find the slides and resources. Go to the Teacher’s Podcast. Their podcast covers the expo nicely.
Eventually all of the presentations will be available through the Podcast Academy. Listening to last year’s audio inspired me to attend this year.
Additionally, I found it useful to review the Podcasting Legal Guide, which was recommended for all who podcast.
Below is a podcast I created at the Expo with Mark Gura, Dr. Kathy King and Dan “the Math Man”. We found a quiet place and chatted.
An essay written by Richard Crespo reminded me of where I would like to go with community health education. After some great examples of collaborative virtual projects, Crespo wrote:
What intrigues me about online communities is that the characteristics of community participation and ownership they exemplify are also fundamental to community health. Community health practioners, however, have fallen behind in applying these principles in the virtual world. In a recent report, an expert panel convened by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommended that public health officials should develop the idea of virtual community health promotion (7).
The Today Show caught my attention today. For Breast Cancer Awareness Month, a site was highlighted to share the voices and experiences of breast cancer survivors, called Living Conversations. It is a nice example of creating a platform for sharing experiences – a learning community.
Understanding the issues of health and science literacy is very important in my role as a community educator. My passion is new media, however I do recognize electronic health tools provide little value if the intended users lack the skills to effectively engage them.
I found an interesting article entitled, “eHealth Literacy: Essential Skills for Consumer Health in a Networked World“. “Engaging with eHealth requires a skill set, or literacy, of its own.” I found valuable the “Lily Model”, which presents a holistic approach to health promotion through new media and the web.
”The eHealth literacy model presented here is the first step in understanding what these skills are and how they relate to the use of information technology as a tool for health. The next step is to apply this model to everyday conditions of eHealth use—patient care, preventive medicine and health promotion, population-level health communication campaigns, and aiding health professionals in their work—and evaluate its applicability to consumer health informatics in general. Using this model, evaluation tools can be created and systems designed to ensure that there is a fit between eHealth technologies and the skills of intended users. By considering these fundamental skills, we open opportunities to create more relevant, user-friendly, and effective health resources to promote eHealth for all.”
