Recently, I posted about prevention. And the need to stand up for it, not taking steps backward in a field that has to fight so hard to make headway. I was compelled to share this next:
I understand that this video alone does not represent an entire social marketing campaign but what it does represent is a group of very passionate people (from a corporate healthcare setting no less) taking many steps (dance steps) to encourage not only awareness but also online action – spread the word and ask people to hit the site. When I looked a week ago, there was only three hundred thousand. Now, it’s over three million. Medline has made large donations to the National Breast Cancer Foundation and helped support the production of the video. But what is most amazing is the hospital’s commitment to engage in a prevention effort. Hats off to them! The true question is how to transfer online behaviors into offline actions.
Did you know that everyday Internet usage, such as logging into social networking Web sites, or even conducting online searches leaves behind a trail of personal information that is collected by companies and the government? Well, it can!
The collection of your digital data can lead to the denial of loans, mortgages and even drivers licenses and any laws protecting Internet users from these unfair practices are severely outdated. In fact, the Electronic Communications Privacy Act was passed in 1986, four years before the World Wide Web was created!Because of this, Internet users have questionable protection and in a world where online usage has become an integral part of life, the ability to feel safe online, and take control of our personal information is more important than ever.
We had the privilege of working with the ACLU of Northern California to create an informative and thought provoking campaign that educates people about the digital footprint left behind when using the Internet.
The Demand Your dotRights campaign provides a look behind the digital curtain to see what’s really happening to your personal data online and educates us on how to protect our rights. Check out the campaign here.
The CDC has issued this warning about an email “phishing” scam. “Phishing” is the act of fraudulently acquiring sensitive information by masquerading as a legitimate source.
PHISHING SCAM – CDC Sponsored State Vaccination Program for H1N1
CDC has received reports of fraudulent emails (phishing) referencing a CDC sponsored State Vaccination Program for H1N1. The messages request that users create a personal H1N1 (swine flu) Vaccination Profile on the CDC.gov web site.
An example of the phishing email is below:
Users that click on the embedded link in the email are at risk of having malicious code installed on their system. CDC reminds users to take the following steps to reduce the risk of being a victim of a phishing attack:
Do not open or respond to unsolicited email messages.
Do not click links embedded in emails from unknown senders.
Use caution when entering personal information online.
Update anti-virus, spyware, firewall, and anti-spam software regularly.
Today, December 1st, is World AIDS Day. How do I know this? Most notably because Starbucks is quick to remind me that for every five buck drink I buy today, they’ll donate 5 cents to the Global Fund.
Awareness of the day has also been pushed through several social media channels, notably “Turn Facebook Red“, which encourages Facebook users to share a video and change their profile picture, and using the #red or #laceupsavelives hashtags on twitter, which cause that particular tweet to turn red:
Social media is great for raising awareness: but is this enough? What do we really wish to achieve today, and is buying a coffee or changing our avatar enough?
Yes they are, according to Joseph Proietto, a professor of medicine at the University of Melbourne.
In the article “Treatments needed to tackle obesity crisis: Experts” that has been picked up by British and Indian news aggregators but apparently hasn’t yet been widely distributed state-side, Proietto claims that lifestyle changes can only achieve so much before the body adapts. Therefore, it is “absolutely essential” to develop drugs to help people keep the weight off, he is quoted as saying.
As an athlete, I know that unless I change up my training regimen now and then, my performance will plateau. Ole Albert Einstein said it well: “Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”
Some speculate that diets don’t work because they are temporary measures to reach a specific target, but aren’t necessarily designed for long-term impact. The notion that the body adapts is also a possibility: what initially helps us to lose weight will decrease in effectiveness as our body becomes used to the new intake and accommodates for it. As with physical activity: as we undergo physical conditioning, activities that used to tax our muscles become easier, and we see fewer results. We then need to increase the intensity or duration of an activity to continue to see gains.
What do you think? Is varying our diet and incorporating different types of physical activity enough? Or do we need a little help to stay healthy?
Growing up in Canada in the 80s, I was subject to the cheesy yet incredibly catchy “participACTION” campaign.
ParticipACTION was started as a government program in the ’70s. Cutbacks caused the program to be ceased in 2001, but it was revived in 2007 thanks to a Federal grant.
While the general ParticipACTION program encouraged physical activity of any kind, all Canadian students also had to participate in the yearly Canada Fitness Tests. These tests assigned students an “Award of Excellence”, Gold, Silver, Bronze or “participant” status based on their ability to perform a number of exercises, included the dreaded “flexed arm hang.” This program was so much a part of Canadian culture that a reference thereto is made in the 1998 Tragically Hip song “Fireworks”: “Next to your comrades in the national fitness program / Caught in some eternal flexed-arm hang / Droppin’ to the mat in a fit of laughter / Showed no patience, tolerance or restraint”.
In researching for this post, I came across a blog post entitled “Canada Fitness” about this program, where nearly 100 people had left comments fondly (or not so fondly) remembering what level of fitness they had achieved.
I’ll admit I don’t recall what grade I achieved. I was naturally an athletic child, playing soccer and softball in elementary school, so I didn’t worry too much about what the test was meant to illustrate. It was just a different workout on a specific day. (The Cadets continue to use a version of this program: http://titanous.com/cadets/fitness_test.pdf)
In contrast, for some the CFT was truly a test. There were participants who would remember exactly what they needed to get to to reach a milestone, and perform exactly to that level. This is the equivalent of the students who would neglect their homework all year, only to be cramming madly the week before exams.
We all have different motivations and approaches. Some of us will do our homework diligently to achieve an overall level of knowledge or fitness, and others will do what they need to ‘pass the test’. Does your program account for both?
A Razorfish report recently released found that over 40% of all US Internet users have ‘friended’ a brand on Facebook or MySpace.
At first blush, “only” 40% may seem small. Yet consider that this is 40% of all Internet users. That percentage gives testament not only to how many Internet users are on social networks like Facebook and MySpace, but also their behaviors therein. It is only recently that there was any ability for an individual to “friend” or follow a brand, and the trend to do so is only going to increase as time goes on.
Individuals “friend” brands on social networks to show their support, engage with the brand, or to get updates more easily.
Anyone who’s heard me present knows that I don’t just tell everyone to have a Facebook presence: it has to make sense for your audience, objectives and available resources. But if you have people interested in receiving your messages and updates, and you have the capacity to support a social networking profile for your organization, does it not make sense to be there for them?
It is both good and bad that I am seeing “prevention” being talked about all over mainstream media. The recently released U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommendations on mammograms (to delay having the screen until women are 50, rather than beginning evaluations at 40 and no longer urging women to perform monthly breast self-exams at home) is creating an uproar of medical and non-medical constituents fighting for the progress that breast cancer has made for prevention. As a Health Educator by trade, I see this as a chance to simply save money and not improve and advocate for women’s health.
The most recent edition of APHA’s The Nation’s Health also highlights an article about the value of prevention and questioning if community based prevention programs offer a high enough return on investment. Rob Gould, PhD, President of Partnership for Prevention stated, “We should no be apologizing for helping people live longer and healthier lives, especially when we can deliver that life at the right cost.”
I stand with those that are outraged. We can’t continue to move three steps forward, just to take two steps back. All I am saying, is give prevention a chance.
Lately, in my own personal journey to research the H1N1 vaccine, I have run into a flurry of helpful and inventive social media tools online.
At the forefront of this seems to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) – who have begun using social media tools including Twitter, YouTube, widgets, social networking sites and podcasts to deliver dependable and up-to-date information to the public and health professionals and to reach new audiences.
On the CDC Novel H1N1 Flu Web page, you can find a list of applications, including a Twitter feed for emergency information including H1N1 flu, buttons, badges, e-cards, a mobile version of the website and a texting pilot project, which provides information on seasonal flu, H1N1 flu and public health emergencies and more.
Smart move by the CDC. I am sure they will prove helpful to thousands as the H1N1 flu continues to spread across the country.
For a very long time, only those in fire fighter, medical or police uniforms were viewed as first responders for emergency or disaster situations – and the organizational chart at a public health department didn’t contain a branch of emergency planning/response personnel. Just as behaviors change, so did the visible landscape of first response.
Public health has always served as the “silent protector” of a community’s health (broadly defined) but since the tragic events of September 11, 2001, public health has gained a more visible and essential presence amongst its local partners. What about the average local resident? Do they really understand the role of public health during times of emergency?
As national health threats such as terrorism and communicable diseases like H1N1 force all of us to pay closer attention to authorities such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), we might have a better idea about public health and emergency preparedness, but does it translate to us locally? It should.
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