Engaging Public Health Professionals In An Online Community Through LinkedIn

Background: Healthy People provides science-based, 10-year national objectives for improving the health of all Americans. For three decades, Healthy People has established benchmarks and monitored progress over time in order to measure the impact of prevention activities in the US.  Healthy People 2020 strives to engage multiple sectors to strengthen policies and improve practices that are driven by the best available evidence and knowledge. To accomplish this, we sought an online space where professionals from across disciplines could share ideas and engage in a dialogue about implementing the goals of Healthy People.  Over 100 million working professionals from a variety of disciplines are now using LinkedIn as a social network of professional contacts. Through LinkedIn, registered members can connect and reconnect with past and current colleagues, search for jobs, stay connected with companies and organizations, join groups, and participate in online forums and discussions.

Program background: In November 2010, the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (ODPHP) followed a strategic plan to develop a Healthy People LinkedIn group, with the goal of engaging and strengthening the relationships between Healthy People 2020 stakeholders, public health professionals, relevant organizations, Healthy People 2020 Consortium members, state coordinators, and subject matter experts, as well as to attract groups and individuals who are new to the initiative. The LinkedIn group was also intended to foster collaboration between individuals and organizations to share best practices, insights, and lessons learned on the implementation of Healthy People 2020.  The plan included brand development, proactive operating strategies and content guidelines, and evaluative baselines. This presentation highlights these strategies, provides results and metrics, and discusses best practices and lessons learned from engaging public health professionals in an online community through LinkedIn. Strategies include inviting key influencers to join, cross-promoting the group between different channels, and hosting weekly discussions to spur engagement.  LinkedIn allows ODPHP to tap into a community where its stakeholders are already engaged, and harness their collective insight, information, and knowledge to better implement Healthy People 2020.

Evaluation Methods and Results: To date, the Healthy People group on LinkedIn has more than 790 members since its inception in November 2010. This number continues to increase, with a growth rate of more than 30% from January to February 2011.  Engagement is strong as well – more than 80 comments have been posted in response to the “Get to know your fellow members” discussion prompt.  These responses exemplify the diverse array of professionals with an interest in Healthy People, including public health nurses, health education managers, lactation consultants, librarians and CEOs.  Overall, there have been 36 different discussions to date, 21 of which were initiated organically by group members.  People from different fields have begun to connect and engage in a meaningful dialogue through this group.

Conclusions: This account serves as an ongoing case study of meaningful ways to engage an interdisciplinary group of stakeholders in an online dialogue and community-building.

Implications for research and/or practice: Discussion through LinkedIn can be a catalyst for forging connections and sparking interdisciplinary dialogue.