Power or Promise: Do Online Health Campaigns Impact Offline Behavior?

Digital platforms have forged a new frontier for public health campaigns, giving us many tools for promoting health communication initiatives that seek to encourage healthy lifestyles and move people to specific health behaviors. But how do we know if a digital campaign is actually affecting behavior? Do Google ads, Twitter campaigns, Facebook memes or YouTube videos actually influence whether people cut down on sugar consumption, get tested for HIV or stop smoking? Panelists from research, government and the private sector explored these questions at a recent AIR event.

Event Program - Power or Promise: Do Online Health Campaigns Impact Offline Behavior?
Presentation Slides - Do Online Health Campaigns Impact Offline Behavior? What We’ve Learned and What We Need to Know

Speakers

Galen Cole
Principal Researcher, Health and Social Development
AIR

Galen joined AIR after 23 years working as a health communication scientist across the CDC domestically and internationally.  His work has been driven by passion for innovation, using smart techniques to systematize approaches to communication from concept to planning, execution and evaluation.

Roy Daiany
Public Sector Account Executive
Google

Roy works across the federal government to develop, execute and analyze digital outreach and awareness campaigns using Google and YouTube. Working with colleagues at Google, he explores innovative ways to measure awareness and behavior change resulting from digital outreach campaigns.

Julia Galdo (moderator)
Managing Director, Health Communication and Social Marketing
AIR

A communication practitioner who has worked for many HHS agencies, Julia leads an AIR team exploring the critical question: What evidence is there that digital strategy truly has impact?

Daniel Davenport
Executive Director
THINK Interactive Inc.

A founder of THINK Inc., Daniel enjoys pushing digital to its limits. He helps national firms and start-ups alike capitalize on constantly changing trends, technologies and marketplace conditions. He has recently worked with the CDC to apply innovative digital strategies to public health communication.

Bradford Hesse
Chief, Health Communication and Informatics Research Branch
National Cancer Institute

A thought leader in health communication science, Brad leads NCI efforts to bring the power of health information technologies to eliminate cancer and the suffering it causes. He also works across NCI to increase the knowledge of, tools for, access to and use of cancer communications.

Kevin O’Connor
President
User Insight

Kevin is an innovator in the strategic application of digital tools to influence behavior. He works with Fortune 500 companies, national nonprofits and government, and specializes in providing insight into user behavior, creating intuitive products and leading market strategies.