The National Association of County and City Health Officials makes use of social media. Their mission statement is as follows:
NACCHO is the national organization representing local health departments. NACCHO supports efforts that protect and improve the health of all people and all communities by promoting national policy, developing resources and programs, seeking health equity, and supporting effective local public health practice and systems.
They display a Twitter Follow banner on each page of the site. So if you have a presence on Twitter be sure to follow them.
I also encourage you to visit their marketing page. This page has an assortment of communication tools, PSA’a and logos that can by used by local public health agencies.
Of course you will get maximum benefits if your are a member of the organization. But there is a great deal of information accessible on the site as a non-member also.
Learn how to communicate your public health message with new media. Now, this all day conference is not only free but in New Jersey. So if you are close enough to attend pre-registar now.
Here is an eye opening example of Federal Agencies who are using Social Media. Please note that this report was done in 2008 and more agencies may have been added since then.
CLICK ON THE FULL SCREEN MODE, ON THE TOP RIGHT OF THE SLIDE,TO SEE THE ENTIRE SCREEN.
It is clear that public health emergencies can be communicated very quickly via social media tools. Recently, we have seen special conversations in Twitter, Facebook and other social networking platforms. There are videos on You tube and other video sharing sites.
But there is still so much work to do. My biggest frustration is the limitations posed by IT Departments. Yet, it is critical that they keep your computer networks safe from attack. But there must be a way for a local or State health Department to have a dialogue. Any ideas?
