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Sep. 6, 2013 Can social media be used to create sustainable changes in health behavior?

A UCLA study published Sept. 3 in the peer-reviewed journal Annals of Internal Medicine demonstrates that an approach that combines behavioral science with social media and online communities can lead to improved health behaviors among men at risk of HIV infection.

The evidence-based approach not only led to increased HIV testing and encouraged significant behavioral change among high-risk groups but also proved to be one of the best HIV-prevention and testing approaches on the Internet, according to the study's lead investigator, Sean D. Young, an assistant professor of family medicine and director of innovation at the Center for Behavior and Addiction Medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.

And it's not only applicable to HIV prevention efforts, he noted.

"We found similar effects for general health and well-being," said Young, who is also a member of the UCLA AIDS Institute. "Because our approach combines behavioral psychology with social technologies, these methods might be used to change health behaviors across a variety of diseases."

In an earlier study, published in February and also led by Young, researchers found that social media could be useful in HIV- and STD-prevention efforts by increasing conversations about HIV prevention.

For the current study, the researchers recruited 112 men who have sex with men through banner ads placed on social networking sites like Facebook, through a Facebook fan page with study information, through banner ads and posts on Craigslist, and from venues such as bars, schools, gyms and community organizations in Los Angeles. Of the participants, 60 percent were African-American, 28 percent were Latino, 11 percent were white and 2 percent were Asian-American.

The men were randomly assigned to one of two Facebook discussion groups -- an HIV intervention group or a general health group (with the latter serving as a control in the study). Each participant was then randomly assigned to two "peer leaders" within their group. The peer leaders communicated with participants by sending messages, chats and wall posts.

In addition to general conversation, peer leaders for the HIV group discussed HIV prevention and testing, while those in the control group communicated about the importance of exercising, eating right and maintaining a low-stress lifestyle.

While the men were under no obligation to engage with the peer leaders or other participants or to even remain members of their respective Facebook groups, the authors found that the participants were highly engaged and maintained active participation during the 12-week study.

Originally posted here:
Combination of social media, behavior psychology leads to HIV testing, better health behaviors