Pacific Strategies

Health Care Agencies Turning To Twitter

From the invaluable PublicCEO.com:

In fighting the spread of the H1N1 influenza virus, county health agencies are turning to new weapons — social media such as Twitter and Facebook — to get the public’s attention.

“The big change in communications is that, traditionally, it was: ‘We’re the expert, listen to us, this is what you should do,’” said Kerry Shearer, communication and media officer for Sacramento County Public Health. “Now people turn to the Internet, they’re getting … a variety of information and they’re weighing the information there.

“It’s really a change in the way people collect information and it’s essential for public health agencies to be part of that conversation.”

SacPublicHealth’s Twitter site is on top of it, whether it’s a tease to a Web page with flood preparedness tips Jan. 21 or dozens of Tweets from H1N1 virus clinics giving timely reports about there being no lines. It culminated in a Jan. 15 Tweet thanking volunteers, staff and the community for pulling off 35 successful clinics with 42,000 people vaccinated.

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