Publications

Mental health stigma is associated with a range of negative health outcomes, and there is a need for more information on how to apply evidence-based digital strategies to various geographic areas. This case study reviews the creation and implementation of a community-based participatory digital media campaign that uses a collective impact framework to address mental health stigma reduction in the Omaha metropolitan area. The positive metrics from the first 10 months of the campaign show promise in the use of this model to impact mental health stigma in the Midwestern United States.

Digital volunteers are unpaid social media users who volunteer to use their online platform to expand the reach of public health communications campaigns. In this Practice Note, we share best practices for recruiting, retaining, and supporting digital volunteers learned through our work on the Hispanic pro-vaccination campaign, El Beacon.

Social media has emerged as a powerful tool to combat vaccine misinformation and promote acceptance. Influencer marketing has been recently used to increase vaccine confidence and decrease misinformation among specific communities, including those who are Hispanic/Latinx. The article analyzes digital metrics from influencers participating in the El Beacon campaign a multi-year influencer-led vaccine promotion campaign.

WhatMakesUs is a digital media campaign aimed at reducing mental health stigma in the Greater Omaha-Council Bluffs metropolitan area. This study evaluated the campaign’s impact at the end of the second year of the campaign by examining different aspects of mental health stigma, including social distance, attitudes, behaviours and self-efficacy, among campaign-aware individuals and non-campaign-aware individuals. The study also explored the campaign’s feasibility and potential for adaptation to other parts of the USA.

PGP has collaborated with thousands of social media influencers to tackle critical public health issues. This case study explores influencers’ perspectives on their engagement in PGP’s health programs. Overall, influencers report a positive effect on their brand, receiving positive comments, gaining or maintaining followers, and achieving similar or higher engagement  compared to their typical posts. These findings can help improve health programs and make them more impactful for influencers, with the ultimate goal of enhancing outcomes for the communities they serve.

Social well-being significantly influences both physical and mental health, and social isolation and loneliness are critical public health concerns, particularly among older adults. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated these issues, necessitating innovative solutions to address social isolation and loneliness among older adults. Life Experienced, a technology-driven campaign created in partnership between The Public Good Projects (PGP) and Kaiser Permanente (KP), aims to reduce social isolation and loneliness among older adults through technology-based interventions that emphasize shared interests, community connections, and empowerment. This study analyzes digital metrics and survey responses from Life Experienced newsletter recipients to assess the program's impact and offer guidance for future initiatives targeting older adults.

Binge drinking is a critical public health concern, and there is a need for new innovative approaches to reduce binge drinking. This study evaluated engagement and responses to Drunken Rewind, a targeted animated series for males 18-34 years old, implemented in west Orange County, Florida. ​​​​This study adds evidence that a digital intervention aimed at reducing binge drinking can be feasibly implemented and positively received by a population that is difficult to reach with public health messaging.

There is a need for new, cross-sector collaborations to create innovative programs that meet young adults where they are to better support their mental health needs. This article highlights lessons learned from the implementation and evaluation of Presence of Mind, the first mental health initiative embedded into pre-existing professional esports networks.

The escalating youth mental health crisis demands immediate attention and innovative approaches to support young people. Gaming provides one avenue to reaching this population, as it is a hobby that is enjoyed by the majority of U.S. youth. However, there is a need for more information on how to use gaming to support the mental health of youth and young adults in a culturally competent way. To fill this gap, the Ruderman Family Foundation commissioned PGP to understand the role that gaming plays in the mental health of youth and young adult gamers. This report identifies the role that gaming companies, mental health professionals, researchers, trusted adults in young gamers’ lives, and even gamers themselves can play in making the gaming space a more supportive environment for youth and young adult gamers’ mental health.

Social media platforms have a wide and influential reach, and as such provide an opportunity to increase vaccine uptake. To date, there is no large-scale, robust evidence on the offline effects of online messaging campaigns. For this study, we aimed to test whether pre-tested, persuasive messaging campaigns from UNICEF, disseminated on Facebook, influenced COVID-19 vaccine uptake in Ukraine, India, and Pakistan.