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Theoretical Background and research questions/hypothesis:
The HIV/AIDS epidemic continues to have a significant impact in the United States and abroad. In the United States more than 1.1 million people are living with HIV infection. One of the tools to fight this epidemic is the dissemination and implementation of evidence-based HIV prevention interventions (EBIs). EBIs help empower a specialized audience of HIV/AIDS service providers and community-based organizations in multiple HIV prevention models to reduce the impact of HIV/AIDS in their communities and jurisdictions. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) makes EBIs accessible to prevention providers through face-to-face training and online learning. This study analyzed the online traffic of the effectiveinterventions.org website, a CDC project to disseminate science-based behavioral interventions and public health strategies.
Methods:
The DEBI project aims to build the capacity of US community-based organizations and state and local health departments to identify, learn and implement EBIs and Public Health Strategies. Using Google Analytics, this study analyzed the movement and traffic of the 29 plus programs in the website, the location and distribution of visits (national and international), the type of information viewed and the type of media used to access and utilize very specialized HIV prevention information. The time frame is for one year from January 31, 2011 to January 31, 2012, and the reporting data are from the U.S. and other countries.
Results:
From January 31, 2011 to January 31, 2012, 92,049 visits were identified with 49% new visitors and 51% returning visitors. Of the total visitors, 92% (84,912) were from the United States, including U.S territory of Puerto Rico and 8% (7,317) were from abroad. The top ten foreign countries from which visits originated were: Canada, Kenya, United Kingdom, South Africa, Brazil, India, Mexico, Dominican Republic, the Philippines and Australia. The states with the most visitors were: New York, California, Georgia, Illinois and Florida. The top five US cities were New York NY Washington DC, Chicago IL, Decatur GA and Los Angeles CA. Most visits were during or right after a CDC grant application process, and the most visited pages on the website were related to basic information about behavioral interventions and the training calendar for event registration. Even though the website was not constructed for the use of mobile devices, access to the website through these devices (e.g., IPhone, IPads, smartphones) was significant.
Conclusions:
Using online capabilities is an effective way to communicate with direct service providers in the United States and abroad.
Implications for research and/or practice:
Easy access to specialized HIV/AIDS prevention information is important for multiple health departments and community-based organizations. Efforts to increase communication with international audiences must be sustained and increased, especially for Spanish-speaking audiences. Finally, constant evaluation of new media technologies (use of Facebook, Twitter, etc) needs to be considered.