A recent event by the Royal Society for Public Health revealed that every GP in the UK has 1,000 patients who would benefit from weight loss.  Lifestyle interventions such as health education courses were shown to deliver real results in helping patients to lose weight, but they experience a 50% drop out rate.

It is understandable.  We have all been on courses where the environment, speaker and group have inspired us to make a change in our habits, but then everyday life erodes our enthusiasm. 

We are working with NHS organisations to reduce this drop out rate by using social media to maintain the interest, team spirit and motivation created on public health courses. Creating engagement online is an effective way of building communities with a purpose – to reduce drop out rate; improve health outcomes and improve the return on investment of courses run.  

As participants choose to spend an increasing time on social media sites, it’s a perfect communications channel to fit in with their lifestyle; be where they are.  People in the UK now visit 16 facebook pages every day.  And it’s not just the domain of the younger participants.  People aged over 50 account for 42% of all social networking users; baby boomers and seniors have embraced this platform.

When setting-up a social programme to support the in-person course, key elements to consider include:

  • Security – participants may not want to let friends and family know of their participation or progress.  This must be addressed in its design.
  • Keep it regular – regular posts will keep it fresh and interesting.  Also consider using a mix of pictures, polls and events; do not stick to just one type of content.
  • Keep it local – rather than push national stories through this channel, the group is local so add as much value as possible informing them on local developments such as fitness courses or local food offers. This group will work best if it feels like a community.
  • Instigate conversations – building two-way or group conversations will help strengthen relationships. Instigate a response.

Good healthcare courses create interactive dialogue, enable user-generated content and build communities – all elements brought by social media.  We can see a future when all courses are supplemented with a social media strategy. 

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