644-P: Social Media Campaign Raises Awareness of Diabetes Risks and Programs in Hispanic Communities

Strong evidence for improving clinical outcomes exists for the Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP) and diabetes self-management education (DSME) yet traditional methods of education and outreach have been minimally effective at engaging high-risk Hispanics. Scripps Whittier Diabetes Institute, San Diego, CA, has delivered culturally appropriate DSME and DPP programs for over 25 years and was seeking an effective method to further engage diverse communities. Facebook is the number one platform for U.S. Hispanics’ communication. Nearly half (48%) of U.S. Hispanics’ Facebook friends are family members, compared to 36% for the total population. Hispanics are the most mobile and socially active group in the U.S. and converse in the language of their preference. On-line messaging developed in Spanish and English utilized patient stories to increase understanding of diabetes risk and encourage an online risk assessment. The audience included adults ages 40+ in Chula Vista; along the Mexican American border. The campaign landing page included calls to action, helpful information regarding diabetes risk factors and links to inspiring patient stories. Nurturing emails were sent to all leads with lifestyle tips and call to action to register for a diabetes program. Bi-lingual telephone outreach was conducted within one week of the risk assessment completion to make a personal connection and answer questions. In the first 75 days of the campaign, 92 assessments were initiated: 66 completed: 26 abandoned. Of the leads sent: 75% were from the Spanish language campaign; 0.67% click-through-rate from Facebook to the landing page; of the 1800 clicks, 75% came from the Spanish language ads; 60-75% of the clicks are from a female audience for both English and Spanish; and nearly 50/50 split between at risk and not at risk for T2DM.This social media campaign pilot was effective in increasing awareness of diabetes risks, DPP and DSME in Hispanic communities, especially in the Spanish speaking, female population.