Dime La VerDAD: Verify, Debunk, and Disseminate

Uptake of respiratory virus protection strategies among Community health workers' social media followers

Community health workers social media followers' intent to use respiratory virus protection strategies. Members of community health workers' social media circles will be surveyed to understand the reach and effectiveness of various types of social media posts. Investigators will measure effectiveness by surveying the social circles of the community health workers six months after the implementation of the curriculum (see recruitment and retention plan), and after the completion of the campaign. Specific items will include which posts the social circle members remembered most and why. Investigators will also ask whether this changed their thinking about respiratory virus protection strategies and or the specific call to action that was put in the infographic.

Community health workers Social Media Self-Efficacy

Compare Community health workers confidence with disseminating reliable information on social media before and after completing the science communication curriculum. 15-minute survey to assess their work-related social media communication self-efficacy. The baseline survey will also gather demographics, social determinants of health and baseline usage of Facebook and other social media (e.g., social media apps they use, the number of friends on each social media platform, the frequency of reading from and posting/sharing on each platform), and confidence and preparedness to disseminate reliable information in their communities regarding about respiratory virus protection strategies

Learner satisfaction

Learner satisfaction will be measured through post-curriculum evaluations using Likert items based on satisfaction with the course and willingness to recommend to others.

Verify circulating knowledge about respiratory virus protection strategies and related health beliefs in seven communities with high morbidity and mortality due to respiratory virus infections

Obtained through focus groups of Community health workers. An interview guide will include questions aimed at verifying their use of social media as an information source about respiratory virus protection strategies, related reliable information, characteristics of information sources they trust, perceptions of the safety, and personal plans to use protection strategies. Questions will be developed based on the Appreciative Inquiry (AI) model which is an asset-based approach to organizational and social engagement that utilizes questions and dialogue to help participants uncover existing strengths, advantages, or opportunities in their communities, organizations, or teams.

Social media engagement

Investigators will first use social media data analytics to measure and understand reach in cyberspace. Investigators will ask for each community health workers' consent and train them how to export their Facebook posts into JSON files that will be shared with the research team. If investigators need to add another emerging social media platform that does not support direct data export, they will explore different options to retrieve data, such as joining community health workers' social circles or group chats, or instruct community health workers to self-report data of their social media posts. Investigators will quantify the volume of "impressions" (i.e., the number of users who will see the post) and "buzz" generated by community health workers (e.g., numbers of likes, comments or shares). Then text analytics methods will be adopted to analyze more fine-grained reactions to these posts.