Using Electronic Media to Enhance Public Health Education and Prevention

Since 1981, the Project Healthcare Program at Bellevue Hospital Center has organized an annual health fair targeting patients, visitors and the surrounding NYC community to provide health education and screening. Pre-health college students run booths educating visitors on topics such as: disaster preparedness, diabetes, domestic violence, HIV, injury prevention, cardiovascular disease, maternal health, smoking cessation, obesity, and other important health topics. In conjunction with the standard community health fair, an innovative contest was established in 2013 to explore multimedia approaches for improving health education on these same topics. The goals of this media contest were to engage pre-health students in health education, to explore the potential of various types of media in public health education, and to develop additional strategies to reach audiences beyond the traditional health fair. Since its inception, the contest has consisted of 42 entries representing 100 participants, utilizing several different types of media as contemporary public service announcements. Multimedia videos comprised a large number of entries (n=18), and a variety of social media strategies including Twitter, Instagram and Tumblr accounts were also developed, demonstrating the potential efficacy of these digital media approaches in future health education initiatives. Through participation in this media contest, students were also asked to consider the accessibility and educational constraints of their audience, resulting in increased awareness of the challenges inherent in public health outreach. This multimedia contest provides opportunities to incorporate electronic media and technology to further educate hospital visitors and patients as well as communities about health and prevention.