Community health workers and social media: benefits, drawbacks, and training needs

Community health workers (CHWs) are an essential and rapidly growing part of the public health workforce. CHW activities are traditionally conducted in person, such as in clinics and at community events; social media could further extend their impact. Many health professionals use social media for disseminating health information, engaging patients, and promoting positive health change, while also navigating risks, such as privacy concerns. Training could be an effective approach to equipping CHWs with skills to maximize social media's benefits while mitigating risks. Furthermore, artificial intelligence (AI) tools are increasingly popular for creating, refining, or tailoring social media content and could be useful for CHWs who use social media. In this study, we conducted qualitative interviews to explore the potential benefits and drawbacks of using social media as a CHW tool, CHW preferences for social media skills training, and interest in learning how to use AI for social media content creation.

We recruited CHWs in Louisiana, USA, through targeted e-mails to a CHW professional organization and agencies that employ CHWs. Between October 2024 and February 2025, we conducted 15 interviews. Interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed for analysis. We used deductive and general inductive approaches to analyze transcripts and generate themes. Results were finalized with input from experienced CHWs.

We identified five themes related to the benefits and drawbacks of social media use: reach and engagement, privacy and confidentiality, health education, organizational policy and expectations, and time and effort. For example, in terms of reach and engagement, CHWs highlighted social media as being particularly effective for reaching specific groups, such as young people, but also recognized that many clients they serve live in rural areas with limited internet access. All participants were supportive of a social media skills training, except for one. Participants commented on the format, teaching approaches, and content they would like to see in a social media skills training program for CHWs, such as incorporating interactive elements and teaching how to develop culturally sensitive content and navigate personal-professional boundaries. Many CHWs expressed hesitancy about training on how to use AI for content creation, noting concerns about authenticity and accuracy.

Social media could be a powerful tool for boosting outreach efforts and expanding access to health information. However, using social media can present challenges in maintaining personal-professional boundaries and the privacy and confidentiality of CHWs and their clients. Results from our study can be used to inform the development and testing of a social media skills training that is responsive to CHW needs.