Digital Dissemination Strategies for Health Promotion Videos in Indigenous Communities in California: Protocol for a...

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Health Communication
• Digital Health

Background:

• Suboptimal COVID-19 and flu vaccine uptake persists, particularly in Indigenous communities facing access barriers.
• Effective vaccine promotion requires understanding optimal dissemination strategies for marginalized populations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare the effectiveness of three distinct strategies for distributing COVID-19 and flu vaccine promotion videos.
• To evaluate dissemination effectiveness among Indigenous Peoples in California, including American Indian/Alaska Natives and Latin American migrants.

Main Methods:

• A three-arm study protocol was developed following extensive formative research with an Indigenous Community Advisory Board.
• Four 30-second videos were created in English and Spanish, with planned translations into four Indigenous languages.
• Dissemination strategies included targeted social media ads, community-based organization distribution, and peer-to-peer sharing over two months.

Main Results:

• Dissemination effectiveness was measured by reach (shares, clicks, views), engagement (watch time, survey completion), and message impact (trust, vaccination intent).
• Data were collected via Bitly tracking, YouTube analytics, and follow-up surveys.
• Descriptive and comparative analyses were conducted to assess strategy differences.

Conclusions:

• This study provides a systematic methodology for comparing digital health communication dissemination strategies within Indigenous communities.
• The approach, integrating community input and multilingual content, offers a replicable model for reaching historically excluded populations.
• Findings aim to improve public health outreach and vaccine uptake in diverse communities.