Although I didn’t get a chance to attend in person, I was able to keep tabs on what was going on at the AIDS 2010 conference this year through one of my favorite social tools: Twitter.

By dropping in the hashtag for the conference (#AIDS2010) you can see the real time updates of what folks are saying about the event. Here are 11 great resources that stood out to me – hopefully they are useful to you:

1. KFF’s Global Health Policy Report lists AIDS 2010 Interview Videos:

2. Review article of Bill Clinton’s Plenary Speech: (here is the actual video)

3. The official AIDS 2010 blog

5. UNAIDS Today website: new multimedia resource created in time for the Vienna event. Features blog posts covering relevant AIDS2010 material including videos, photos and commentary on the conference.

6. Bill Gates’ thoughts on the breakthrough treatment for female HIV prevention

7. Reuters article on President Obama’s dedication to the HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment efforts through new global health initiative.

8. Born HIV-Free campaign: The campaign put on by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria to continue research in preventing the transmission of HIV from mother to child. Great videos on their Youtube channel.

9. CNN article with stories from 3 men living with HIV and their historical points of view. Including a highlight on Phil Wilson, founder of the Black AIDS Institute, whom I got a chance to talk with earlier this year. See video below of an interview I did with him during a CDC sponsored college event for Act Against AIDS campaign.

10. The Numbers Game: Infections, Deaths and Treatments for HIV/AIDS around the globe

11. Interview with Regan Hoffman, Editor-in-Chief of POZ Magazine

Update: Mark S. King from My Fabulous Disease points out his excellent coverage of the Vienna meeting complete with video interviews!

The ‘Public Health Awareness’ segment will be a recurring feature here on the Pulse + Signal blog where we highlight relevant public health focused observances (e.g. cancer awareness, heart disease awareness, etc). The purpose of this feature is to continue to spread the word around specific health awareness dates to spur increased understanding and prevention.

Health awareness events happening this April:

National Autism Awareness Month: Here in the States the oldest organization dedicated to autism is the Autism Society of America located in Bethesda, MD. They even have a section devoted to finding autism resources in your state. Also, Autism Speaks, “the nation’s largest autism science and advocacy organization, dedicated to funding research into the causes, prevention, treatments and a cure for autism” – has been making use of Twitter to get the word out this April for their awareness month. Don’t forget to check out the Interactive Autism Network, a massive online community of autistic individuals and researchers searching for answers.

National Public Health Week (April 5-11): THE week for public health professionals!  This week we get the word out on the field and why health promotion is important – time to make an even bigger splash by highlighting health awareness initiatives. With the American Public Health Association leading the way, National Public Health Week has returned with a message of improving community health – one neighborhood at a time. You can catch up with activities through APHA’s Twitter account. Check out this video they did outlining some very important reasons why we need to get back on track developing successful public health programs:

World Health Day (Today, April 7, 2010): The World Health Organization, one of the foremost leading authorities on global health, is behind this year’s World Health Day event today which is focusing on the theme of “1000 cities, 1000 lives”. There is a Ning group devoted to this campaign as well as dedicated Facebook and Youtube pages for further interaction.  The amount of energy that goes into global health campaigns is phenomenal.  Watch these videos to get ideas on how to improve your local public health programs.

From RWJF’s Pioneer Portfolio:

In a world with abundant, actionable health data – both from electronic medical records and our everyday observations – we will be empowered to make better decisions and our relationships with doctors may significantly change.

I really appreciate this video for a variety of reasons. Not only do I think the way these conversations were visualized is cool but it really points out the key words and ideas that are forming this e-Patient movement. When I first started reading about about the ideas to transform the healthcare system, I got excited because it began to focus on the patient, the individual, as someone taking responsibility for their health; as someone who actually wanted to understand what was going on. For me that resonates with the public health sector in which large groups of people are observed.

If a few individuals began leading this charge and spreading the idea of a balanced patient-provider relationship, then maybe this movement would be something of substance. Not only spreading to health policy and empowering those who readily have access to health information but also changing the landscape for those who get the folded arms and shaking heads from the healthcare system. Public health is about people, it’s about reducing health disparities and giving people the chance they need to lead healthy lives. Often times there are walls and barriers preventing that – it’s time to break them down.

The scourge of HIV/AIDS is no stranger of topic to those working in the public health field whether in the United States or abroad. Conferences and workshops have been put together to determine effective strategies to spread the message of prevention and awareness in order to stop its deadly.

A fantastic global health organization, PATH (Program for Appropriate Technology in Health), created an innovative way to interact with people for HIV prevention by establishing the Magnet Theater in Kenya. These are the kinds of outside the box thinking that I believe will actually make a difference in disease prevention on a wide range of subjects.

Awareness is of course a great element in figuring out what the problem is but behavior change is a different, trickier issue. My friend and colleague Alex Bornkessel points to this fact very well in a recent blog post. PATH and the Magnet Theater are definitely getting people to take action to change their behaviors.

PATH is an international nonprofit organization that creates sustainable, culturally relevant solutions, enabling communities worldwide to break longstanding cycles of poor health. By collaborating with diverse public- and private-sector partners, we help provide appropriate health technologies and vital strategies that change the way people think and act. Our work improves global health and well-being.

This is a guest post by David Van Sickle of GlobalHealthIdeas – a global health blog focused on solutions, problem solving and finding the latest innovations

I’m currently in the United Arab Emirates, attending a conference sponsored by the UAEU in Al-Ain to raise awareness of global health problems in the Middle East and neighboring Asia, and to draw attention to the region and its populations and health problems among the global health community. As a result, I’ve been thinking about the scope of attention in global health, and about populations and settings that are, for some reason, out of focus right now; one group in particular has come to mind.

This group is among the poorest in their country. Just under one in three lives in poverty (more than twice the overall rate).

• They have, on average, the lowest per capita income, earning less than half the average income of the general population.
• Nearly a quarter of their households are food insecure and as much as half of the population is unemployed.

Their families inhabit some of the most substandard housing in their country.

• Nearly 40 percent of households are without electricity.
• More than 30 percent lack a safe and adequate water supply and waste disposal system.
• Households are often crowded. The risk of death from tuberculosis is 600 percent higher compared to the general population.

Populations are often geographically isolated, living many miles from communities, employment and health care facilities.

• More than 60 percent of households have no landline telephone with most individuals relying on cell phones for routine communications.
• Migration to distant urban centers for employment is growing.

Overall the group experiences a major mortality disadvantage and significant burden of chronic diseases.

• The group shoulders considerable decrements in life expectancy and significantly higher rates of infant and maternal mortality.
• They suffer from increasingly high rates of debilitating chronic diseases tied to negative social and economic determinants of health.

Given this set of circumstances, I have long expected that the attention of the global health community would land on this group. The problems are compelling and the potential value of existing and promising social and technological interventions are obvious. For example, with widespread access to mobile phones networks, mobile phones could be used to deliver education, raise incomes, or improve health and health care. There are a host of applicable technological interventions that could mitigate poor housing or provide electricity.

Yet, very few academic or applied global health organizations include the group in their research focus or activities. I’m ready to see global health efforts applied to aid Native Americans.

When I think of healthcare, I traditionally think of barriers. Barriers to access or afford healthcare. Geographic, socioeconomic, and educational barriers. There are also communication barriers to overcome, from general public health education to basic health literacy where people are able to read and understand written directions from their health care providers. And, there is a barrier between healthcare organizations and patients and consumers who want to use new and “social” media tools to communicate in different ways with their healthcare providers.

Healthcare is surprisingly progressive in terms of using new, digital and social media tools to communicate with their public. However, due to the nature of the “emerging” medium, there are no standards or best practices. There has been no place to share or really learn about successes and effective communication in healthcare. Thus, it was essential to develop a community or central focal point to bring together professionals from a wide range of healthcare organizations and perspectives to discuss, build, and evolved best practices in health communications. Participants from hospitals, physician practices, government agencies, universities, PR/marketing/advertising firms, non-profits, student groups, and more should be able to collaborate through candid questions and answers from both leaders and those in the trenches working to improve healthcare communications. Thanks to #hcsm, they can!

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#hcsm, or healthcare communications & social media, is a hashtag conversation that started in January 2009 that has evolved into a large community on Twitter. Using the 140-character messages to enable the conversation, anyone with an interest in health communications can engage in an informative discussion about a wide variety of topics.

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The discussion is moderated via @HealthSocMed, with a moderator who leads the discussion each week. The moderator provides topics, selected from community suggestions, to cover each week. The topics are not limited to social media, and include all aspects of communications, but based on the audience participation and the nature of the communication channel, often trend to include some aspect of social media with most discussions. Anyone with a Twitter account and an interest is able to participate in the conversation.

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However, it is not required to have a Twitter account to watch or “lurk” in the conversation, with the help of search.twitter.com and the new search abilities on the home page of Twitter.com, so the conversation for the most part has few barriers to participation. There is no fee or credentials required to participate. Participants are asked to respect one another, to stay on topic while using the hashtag during the specific appointed hour, and not to “spam” or sell products or services to the community. Although Sunday nights are the main conversation, you can check out #hcsm any time during the day or night to find interesting conversations and links to #hcsm-related information.

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One of the benefits of this medium being “new” and “emerging” is that it is flexible and open-sourced. Meaning, we have the power and opportunity to influence the way we will use it for years to come. This is why I believe #hcsm is important; it gives #hcsm participants & contributors the opportunity to make waves & share their innovative insights with everyone.

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Public health probably has the most to benefit from emerging digital media trends and technologies – because we, the public, can help guide and develop it to fit our needs. We also have the opportunity to use these tools to reach people who previously have had no access. In the hands of public health professionals, the power and reach of social media may be limitless. We can set the agenda for change, and we can make an immediate difference.

It seems that each time the Fall season comes around, I have a reason to write about cold/flu season. Of course this year I’ve had the distinct pleasure (not really) of seeing H1N1 wreak havoc around the country and the world.

Recently, President Obama declared a state of emergency because of the flu virus -definitely not as relaxed of an issue as most people thought it might have been. From that Huffington Post article:

The declaration, signed Friday night and announced Saturday, comes with the disease more prevalent than ever in the country and production delays undercutting the government’s initial, optimistic estimates that as many as 120 million doses of the vaccine could be available by mid-October.

Basically folks are scrambling for more vaccines and there has been more demand than previously forecasted. But with all the things that public health focuses on, prevention is a central aspect and that’s one of the things I wanted to bring to your attention with this post. Once again we have the opportunity to remind ourselves of some ways to keep the germs away and improve our odds of dodging the flu. I always love to point folks to one of my first prevention posts with a funny yet true video. Don’t be THAT person, please?

The Water Quality and Health Council, also feels that in addition to basic cold/flu prevention methods such as washing your hands often, making sure surfaces are clean is also very important.

Knowing that flu viruses can live on inanimate surfaces for hours or even days should motivate people to take personal responsibility to protect themselves,” said Dr. Chris Wiant, Water Quality & Health Council chairman. “This means disinfecting surfaces when feasible, using disinfecting wipes or chlorine bleach – especially at home and at work – as well as washing your hands and practicing good personal hygiene habits.  Contacting school administrators, office managers and even health club managers will help you understand their cleaning and disinfecting protocol and how you can better safeguard against the flu.

It makes plenty of sense mainly because no matter how many times you do wash your hands, if you touch a keyboard, desk, or doorknob that has flu germs on it – you have a problem. That’s why it’s important to make sure and clean these surfaces on a regular basis.

For all my science buffs out there, here is a video on how one of the most popular surface cleaners, bleach, kills bacteria:

For more information on H1N1 prevention practices, check out the Flu and Health website.

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The Water Quality & Health Council (WQHC) is a body of independent scientific experts, health professionals and consumer advocates who serve as advisors to the Chlorine Chemistry Division of the American Chemistry Council, an industry trade association.

I recently had the pleasure of getting Andrew P. Wilson (one of the prominent voices of the HHS social media team) over here on Pulse + Signal with an interview on the recent site update of Flu.gov – one of the most credible places online to get info on things flu related.

After writing about the recent video PSA contest that was developed through HHS, I figured it would be great to get some inside information on what was going on with the redesign of the website. If you’re on Twitter – I would definitely recommend following Andrew for relevant public health and technology/new media information.

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PS: Can you tell us a little about what you do at HHS and what was the original purpose of the Flu.gov website?

APW: Sure. I am part of the team responsible for the management of the Flu.gov Website. Among other things, this involves maintaining the quality of the site information and working on improving the user experience. I also oversee most of the Flu.gov outreach using social media. In addition to my Flu.gov responsibilities, I am also part of the leadership for the HHS Center for New Media.

The Flu.gov website was originally created in 2005 as a response to concerns about a possible Avian (Bird) flu pandemic. Initially, the site was called PandemicFlu.gov and was only recently renamed Flu.gov this past summer. Despite the name change, the mission of the site has remained fairly consistent although the scope has been broadened to include seasonal flu information. In short, Flu.gov is the “one-stop-shop” for flu-related information and resources. Although the site is maintained by the Dept. of Health and Human Services, we are really a cross-government site and have information from many other parts of the federal government including the Departments of Agriculture, Education and Labor. Finally, even though the site is focused on federal activities, we do provide relevant state and international news, information and resources.

PS: What prompted the decision to change the look of the site and what elements were added (and why?)

APW: There were several reasons why we moved to a new look and feel for the site. First, as a result of the high level of interest in H1N1 this spring, we had a tremendous amount of information about what people were looking for when they visited the site. This information gave us actionable insight into how we could better address our users’ needs. Second, as the site’s original focus was on Avian flu, we had to rethink how the site content would be organized to reflect it’s broader mission – seasonal flu, H1N1 flu, Avian Flu, and possibly others. With this information, we conducted extensive usability testing to make sure that we implemented the changes we identified as effectively as possible.

There are many new features on the site and we continue to add features and content almost daily. That being said, and before I speak to some of the more visible changes, I want to emphasize that most meaningful changes are those that are really “invisible”. These include rewriting content in plain language to make in more readily understandable and improving navigation so people can more easily get to the content they need. As for other changes:

• The new “features” area at the top center of the site. This area allows us to highlight content in a way that we could not have done previously. This is absolutely critical when the situation is evolving and it changes so rapidly.
• The “H1N1 online self-evaluation” was recently rolled out as a way to help educate people about the more serious flu symptoms- particularly those symptoms and conditions that need the attention of a medical professional. Although the tool is not meant to be a substitute for a doctor’s advice, it can help people better understand the flu symptoms.
• The “Ask the Experts” section allows people to get answers to specific questions about the flu and allows us to highlight answers to questions of particular interest. In addition to being a valuable service, this feature is a great way for us to us to help identify content areas that may have been overlooked or not have been as clear or as visible as they should be.
• Our Interactive Google Map brings together a variety of H1N1 news, information and resources and results from our partnership with HealthMap.org (who is also responsible for the iPhone app – Outbreaks Near Me). We knew from the H1N1 outbreak in the spring that there are many people mapping outbreaks and related information and we need to have a resource on par with the best tools out there. Moreover, we saw this as an opportunity to integrate and highlight social media outreach conducted by partners at different levels of government.
• The “Flu Myths and Realities” feature allows us to respond quickly to rumors and inaccuracies.

PS: Is HHS moving toward being more comfortable with new media tools and new ways of communicating? The PSA video contest was great – how did that come about?

APW: In the federal space, HHS has a tremendous amount of experience and expertise in using social media. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has long been one of the outstanding leaders in this area but there are many other agencies and offices in HHS that have been using these tools successfully. For example, the team behind the AIDS.gov blog has made great strides in their mission to foster public discussion on using new media effectively in the response to HIV/AIDS.

However, this past year has seen some considerable advances in how these tools are being used. The use of social media during the Salmonella outbreak earlier this year and again during the on-going H1N1 outbreak has shown that social media has a significant role to play in crisis situations. In addition, interest and use of social media has spread much more broadly across the Department. As an example, there are now more than 30 Twitter feeds in the Department covering a wide variety of topics and issues.

One of the increasingly important parts of the HHS new media toolkit has been video. As part of the H1N1 response, Flu.gov now streams 2-3 events each week, with each event available on-demand after the event. However, many of these Flu.gov events have followed very traditional formats and we knew that we needed to consider other options if we wanted to reach different audiences. The Flu.gov video PSA contest was a great mechanism to fill many different needs. By engaging the public to help spread the word about practicing healthy habits, we were able to get videos that resonated with a wide range of audiences. Moreover, the participatory nature of the contest, both in the creation of the PSAs and in the public voting, helped create thousands of “citizen evangelists” who were able to help us spread these critical public health messages.

PS: What can consumers expect in the future from Flu.gov?

APW: I don’t have any specific features that I can highlight now but the essence of what we want to do is remain responsive to the needs of public as the H1N1 situation continues to evolve. There are really two sides to this. First, we want to continue to monitor both traditional and new (i.e. social media) metrics to see what issues are of most concern to the public and make sure that we respond to those needs on our site. Second, we want to make sure that we get information out to people to the places where they spend the most time online. Content put in those spaces must be appropriate to the medium and it must be “sharable”. There are many people that are willing and able to help us get our messages out. It is our responsibility to make sharing as easy as possible.

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Thanks so much Andrew for taking the time out to answer those questions! Overall, I’m really excited that HHS is striving toward understanding and implementing the stuff that matters when it comes to new media. Just like everything else, this is all a learning process but most importantly it’s a participatory process.

Keep up to date with Flu.gov via their Twitter feed as well!

New media has brought about several different ways in which to interact with consumers – through blogs are good for reading up on new things, podcasts are great for on the go listening and video allows for the senses of sight and sound to be integrated into a great interactive experience.

Out of all the media venues that are available to us now in this social climate, I really think video is creating some special opportunities. Here are some statistics to chew on (from a recent Pew report):

• The share of adults who watch online videos via video sharing websites has nearly doubled since 2006
• Nine in ten (89%) internet users ages 18-29 now say they watch content on video sharing sites, and 36% do so on a typical day
• Broadband connectivity has helped to set the stage for high-quality viewing experiences and broaden the appeal of online video content. Among broadband users, 69% watch video on sharing sites, and 23% do so on a typical day
• Also check out film/video veteran, Matthew Balthrop’s article on additional statistics regarding online video

A little help visualizing the use of sites like Youtube, Dailymotion, Vimeo, etc.:

What does that mean for public health? Well something my good friend James Walker rang a bell in my head today when we were discussing the results of the H1N1 Flu PSA contest – he said it was a great example of ‘credibility and creativity’. That’s exactly how I feel about the use of film/video in public health. If we can get the right people on camera, discussing innovative initiatives to improve health and get messages across – it will be a great example of credibility and creativity. One of my favorite examples of this is Salt Lake Valley Health Department and their One Small Change video.

The public health world MUST catch onto the fact that it’s a new world of communication opportunities. Material that catches attention and connects with the public is essential to making Public Health 2.0 a reality. Other than holding the attention of the viewer, engaging them with a worthwhile story/concept is also important.

I recently had the pleasure of meeting with Professor Negar Mottahedeh of Duke University, who is an authority on film studies and global culture. I chatted with Negar about her thoughts on how film can be useful in highlighting important issues in public health:

Interview with Prof. Negar Mottahedeh – Impact of Film from Andre Blackman on Vimeo.

You can also catch more about our discussions at her blog, the Negarponti Files, where she expands upon some of the material she discussed in our interview. The bottom line is that we have a new opportunity to engage target audiences with stories and information that transcends the one-time-read potential of a brochure or flyer. Video can be spread quickly, translated into different languages just as easily and it becomes readily accessible anywhere online.

Stay tuned as I begin to think more about this form of media for highlighting innovation in public health.

Continuing with my upload of great interviews with public health professionals from the recent CDC Health Communication, Marketing and Media conference – I had the opportunity to connect with Jason Melancon, Director of Media and Communications at the Louisiana Public Health Institute (LPHI). Jason has more than eight years of experience managing print and web based marketing campaigns, special events and public relations. He also has extensive experience managing large scale, regional and statewide public health social marketing campaigns.

I met Jason in a panel session on how the CDC was tracking the use of their social web tools. Afterward we connected for a chat on what he was doing at LPHI and how they were using new media to help with their campaigns. One campaign in particular that we spoke about (and covered in the video) was Stay Healthy LA (Louisiana). Another initiative that LPHI is moving forward is GNOcommunity.org, which helps individuals and families locate quality community healthcare centers near them.

Interview with Jason Melancon, Louisiana Public Health Institute from Andre Blackman on Vimeo.