Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2015 Nov;105(11):2245-51.
doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2015.302669. Epub 2015 Sep 17.

The Laugh Model: Reframing and Rebranding Public Health Through Social Media

Cameron Lister  1 , Marla Royne  1 , Hannah E Payne  1 , Ben Cannon  1 , Carl Hanson  1 , Michael Barnes  1
Affiliations

The Laugh Model: Reframing and Rebranding Public Health Through Social Media

Cameron Lister et al. Am J Public Health. 2015 Nov.

Abstract

Objectives: We examined the use of low-cost social media platforms in communicating public health messages and outline the laugh model, a framework through which public health organizations can reach and engage communities.

Methods: In August 2014, we developed an online campaign (Web site and social media) to help promote healthy family meals in Utah in conjunction with the state and local health departments.

Results: By the end of September 2014, a total of 3641 individuals had visited the Utahfamilymeals.org Web site. Facebook ads reached a total of 29 078 people, and 56 900 people were reached through Twitter ads. The per-person price of the campaign was 0.2 cents, and the total estimated target population reach was between 10% and 12%.

Conclusions: There are 3 key takeaways from our campaign: use of empowering and engaging techniques may be more effective than use of educational techniques; use of social media Web sites and online marketing tactics can enhance collaboration, interdisciplinary strategies, and campaign effectiveness; and use of social media as a communication platform is often preferable to use of mass media in terms of cost-effectiveness, more precise evaluations of campaign success, and increased sustainability.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

FIGURE 1—
FIGURE 1—
Laugh model framework.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Thackeray R, Neiger BL, Smith AK, Van Wagenen SB. Adoption and use of social media among public health departments. BMC Public Health. 2012;12(1):242. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Neiger BL, Thackeray R, Burton SH, Thackeray CR, Reese JH. Use of Twitter among local health departments: an analysis of information sharing, engagement, and action. J Med Internet Res. 2013;15(8):e177. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Quan-Haase A, Young AL. Uses and gratifications of social media: a comparison of Facebook and instant messaging. Bull Sci Technol Soc. 2010;30(5):350–361.
    1. Chung C, Austria K. Social media gratification and attitude toward social media marketing messages: a study of the effect of social media marketing messages on online shopping value. Proceedings of the Northeast Business and Economics Association. New York, NY: Academic Press; 2010:581–586. Available at: http://connection.ebscohost.com/c/articles/56100920/social-media-gratifi.... Accessed March 21, 2015.
    1. Neiger BL, Thackeray R, Van Wagenen SA et al. Use of social media in health promotion: purposes, key performance indicators, and evaluation metrics. Health Promot Pract. 2012;13(2):159–164. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources