2015 APHA Annual Meeting & Expo

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Recorded Annual Meeting Presentations (RAMP) are now available for purchase.
Only $90 for presenters, $140 for registered attendees and $200 for non-attendees.

Online Program

332120
Comparing the effectiveness of using social media versus dating websites to recruit Black and Latina women aged 18 to 25 into a sexual health research study


Monday, November 2, 2015

Sonia K González, MPH, DrPH Candidate, CUNY School of Public Health and Interactive Technology Pedagogy, CUNY School of Public Health, New York, NY
Christian Grov, PhD, MPH, Department of Health and Nutrition Sciences, Brooklyn College and the Graduate Center of CUNY, and the Center for HIV/AIDS Educational Studies and Training, Brooklyn, NY
Background: Young Black and Latina women remain at disproportionate risk for negative sexual health outcomes and there is an urgent need to involve this population in sexual health research. The use of banner ads on social media and dating websites may prove themselves as valuable to engage this population and subsequently enroll them in sexual health studies; however, there is limited evidence about the effectiveness of either approach.

Methods: Data will be taken from an ongoing and soon-to-be complete pilot RCT targeting young Black and Latina women in New York City aged 18 to 25.  Participants are being recruited via banner ads on dating and social networking websites. Consented participants are completing baseline and three-month post-test online assessments. Enrollment will be complete in July 2015.

Analysis: We will compare the recruitment cascade (e.g., ad impressions, ad clicks, initial eligibility, confirmed eligibility, enrollment) on both types of sites, as well as comparisons in terms of time and cost per enrolled participant. Consented participants recruited via social media vs. dating websites will be compared across demographic and behavioral characteristics.

Discussion: Dating and social networking websites may prove themselves useful tools to engage and enroll young Black and Latina women into sexual health research studies. The results of this study will inform researchers and providers about effective methods to digitally connect with target populations to engage them in lieu of face-to-face recruitment for research studies.

Learning Areas:

Conduct evaluation related to programs, research, and other areas of practice
Public health or related research
Social and behavioral sciences

Learning Objectives:
Compare the effectiveness of social media and dating websites to recruit Black and Latina women into sexual health research studies using banner ads. Describe the process of using banner ads to recruit for a pilot RCT. Discuss how these findings informs future research using a web-based app.

Keyword(s): Women's Health, Public Health Research

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I participated in every stage of this project, from program design, developing and implementing the evaluation, designing the survey instrument, recruiting subjects, collecting data, through data analysis and dissemination. In addition, I have over 15 years of community experience in sexual and reproductive health education programming.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

Back to: 3220.0: Using technology to advance reproductive and sexual health