How the CDC used blogs, social networks, virtual worlds, Twitter, eCards, mobile-ready Web sites, and other new media technologies to educate about Flu Vaccines

Health Marketing Musings

from Jay M. Bernhardt, PhD, MPH
Director, National Center for Health Marketing
US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Getting Viral for Flu Vaccination

I got my flu vaccination. Have you gotten yours? If you haven't, it's
not too late to prevent getting the flu. In fact, that's the main
message of National Influenza Vaccination Week, which is I got my flu
vaccination. Have you gotten yours? If you haven't, it's not too late to
prevent getting the flu. In fact, that's the main message of National
Influenza Vaccination Week, which is taking place this week, December
8-14, 2008. While flu season in the United States generally runs from
October through May, people who get vaccinated in December or later can
still protect themselves and others from the flu. Most of the time
influenza activity peaks in January. Although the CDC has long promoted
annual influenza vaccination as the single most important thing one can
do to prevent catching the flu, far too many people still do not take
this preventive action. Each year, on average in the United States, more
than 200,000 people are hospitalized from flu complications and about
36,000 people die.

So how can we more effectively spread the message and increase its
impact? By combining the research-based traditional (vertical)
strategies of expert-based communication, mass media messages, and state
and local outreach with new media (horizontal) strategies using
interactive, participatory, and peer-to-peer engagement. For the third
straight year, the CDC National Center for Health Marketing is
collaborating with the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory
Diseases on the annual Seasonal Flu Vaccination campaign. This year we
are reaching out through blogs, social networks, virtual worlds,
Twitter, eCards, mobile-ready Web sites, and other interactive, new
media technologies to provide information and to motivate people to "Get
Vaccinated."

The products featured below are being promoted to partners and the
public, but we also count on you to help promote the important message
of seasonal flu vaccination. Please help us support this campaign by
participating in the following activities:

CDC Get Vaccinated Graphical Button for placement on an organization's
Web site. A button is a graphic element used to promote campaigns and
causes online. Buttons remind Web site users to get vaccinated. To add
an English or Spanish language button to your page, please visit
http://www.cdc.gov/flu/NIVW/help.htm and follow the directions posted
there.

CDC "I Got My Flu Vaccine. Have You?" Badge for social networking sites.
CDC's MySpace page will feature messages and a social networking badge
for friends. To add this badge to an organization or individual's social
network site, visit CDC's MySpace page
<http://www.myspace.com/cdc_ehealth> and copy and paste the html code
into your site.

Add a link to CDC's Get Vaccinated Health-e-Cards to a Web site or blog.
Available in several different designs, the e-Cards include flu
vaccination messages for moms and health care providers. The flu e-Cards
link to http://www.cdc.gov/flu/ for more information, and also offer a
space for inserting a personal message.

Add one of the following Widgets to a Web site (all available from
www.cdc.gov/widgets/)

RSS Reader. This widget will read content from CDC RSS feeds and updated
CDC content, including seasonal flu. Content will be displayed in the
CDC RSS widget automatically.

Flu Map. Updated weekly, the CDC flu map widget will display a current
map of reported flu cases throughout the United States.

Visit http://m.cdc.gov <http://m.cdc.gov/> on your Mobile Phone to
access mobile-ready Web content on seasonal flu.

Follow us on Twitter (CDCFlu) for seasonal influenza messages throughout
flu season.

CDC is also reaching out to partners and the public through other
interactive media avenues. We are seeking partners to participate in a
CDC.gov Content Syndication pilot of content from the Seasonal Flu
<http://www.cdc.gov/flu/> Web site. Content syndication allows CDC to
share timely and relevant content that is automatically and seamlessly
updated on partners' Web sites. The display of the content will be
consistent with the partners' look and feel of their own sites. Once
code is posted, no maintenance is required.

Last week, CDC conducted two Bloginars. The bloginar for mommy bloggers
addressed the importance of vaccination, vaccine safety and
communication messages. The bloginar for healthcare bloggers discussed
ways to encourage colleagues to get vaccinated, to respond to questions
about vaccine effectiveness, and to share other clinical updates.

CDC and Whyville, a popular Virtual World for "tweens," (children ages
eight through eleven), will collaborate for a third year on an in-world
activity to engage them and their grandparents in vaccination
activities.

Many of these tools would not be effective without the help of our
partners in public health. We would like to thank the National Public
Health Information Coalition (NPHIC), WebMD, MayoClinic.com,
HealthCentral.com, and QuantiaMD for their help in promoting the annual
Seasonal Flu Vaccination campaign. As we work to use the tools of health
marketing to promote flu vaccination, please join us in spreading the
word. You can get more information on these efforts at
nchminteractivemedia@cdc.gov.

Help spread the word, not the flu.