A Peer-Generated STD Testing Campaign for College Students

Background: April is National STD Awareness Month. To connect with young adults, the Division of STD Prevention (DSTDP) at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) created a Collegiate STD Awareness Month Campaign Contest. Student teams from participating schools were charged with developing an STD awareness and testing campaign plan that employed new and traditional media approaches to reach 18-25 year olds on their campuses and in the surrounding communities.  DSTDP reached out to schools of communication at colleges throughout the country, including a number of Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Hispanic Serving Institutions. A total of nine entries were received from five participating schools (Arizona State University, Florida A&M University, Georgia Southern University, Jackson State University, and University of Missouri). The winning campaign plan, designed by students at the University of Missouri, was selected in April 2009.

Program background: DSTDP reached out to colleges in Georgia to implement the winning campaign plan, with an anticipated launch date of April 2010.  Three schools in Atlanta agreed to implement the campaign: Clark Atlanta University, Morehouse College, and Spelman College. Each campus campaign revolved around a free STD testing day hosted by the school’s student health center and promoted by targeted Facebook advertising, email blasts, incentives, and peer outreach through student volunteers.

Evaluation Methods and Results: The campaign resulted in more than 175 students being tested on the free testing day across the three campuses, with each school reporting significant increases over their average daily number of STD tests. Each school distributed a questionnaire to students who were tested asking them how they heard about the campaign and the free STD testing day.  The results showed that the effectiveness of the new media and traditional outreach methods were relatively equal, with 46 % of students reporting that Facebook advertising and email blasts caused them to get tested, and 44% reporting that peer outreach and flyers caused them to get tested.  The remaining 10% of those tested either could not remember or had never heard of the campaign.

Conclusions:  A peer-generated campaign incorporating both new media and traditional outreach approaches was effective in encouraging college students to get tested for STDs.

Implications for research and/or practice: Because of the tremendous amount of media competition vying for the attention of college students, it can be challenging to reach them with health messaging. Given the prominence of new and social media in the lives of youth, health communicators must incorporate new media channels into their campaign efforts. By engaging college students in campaign development and implementation, this pilot project was able to identify outreach methods and messaging that would reach and resonate with youth. This campaign demonstrated that communicating through multiple channels, incorporating both new media and traditional outreach methods, may be effective for reaching college students.