title: Increasing Community Awareness About Alzheimer's Disease in Puerto Rico Through Coffee Shop Education and Social Media.
abstract: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the fourth leading cause of death in Puerto Rico. Using multi-media resources and in-person education may be an effective approach to improve knowledge and awareness of AD. The Un Café por el Alzheimer program in Puerto Rico incorporates an education component at coffee shops and a social media campaign using Facebook. The current study evaluates this initiative through an analysis of pre/post education survey results and social media content and use. Surveys contained close-ended and open-ended questions to understand participants' perceptions and knowledge about AD. Post-education surveys also included questions related to program satisfaction. Social media analysis of the Facebook community page examined posts from March 1 to September 30, 2015. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze survey and Facebook data. Four education sessions were conducted with a total of 212 participants. Fifty-one of the participants completed both pre- and post-surveys. Following the education program participants reported improved knowledge of risk and protective factors. All participants reported learning new information from the program. There were a total of 250 posts on the Un Café por el Alzheimer community Facebook page; 168 posts related to AD. The Facebook page reached 294,109 people, with 9963 page likes, 610 comments, 17,780 post clicks, and 3632 shares. There was an average increase of 64.8 % in number of people reached by the Facebook page following the education sessions. The approach of combining social media resources and in-person education is beneficial to increase public awareness of AD and disseminate health information.
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Promotion, Education, and Behavior, Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, 915 Greene Street, Columbia, SC, 29208, USA. dfriedma@mailbox.sc.edu.
authors.forename: Daniela B
authors.initials: DB
authors.lastname: Friedman
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Promotion, Education, and Behavior, Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, 915 Greene Street, Columbia, SC, 29208, USA.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gibson
authors.affiliation: Puerto Rico Department of Health, San Juan, PR, USA.
authors.forename: William
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Torres
authors.affiliation: Puerto Rico Department of Health, San Juan, PR, USA.
authors.forename: Jessica
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Irizarry
authors.affiliation: Puerto Rico Department of Health, San Juan, PR, USA.
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rodriguez
authors.affiliation: College of Social Work, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA.
authors.forename: Weizhou
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.affiliation: Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, 915 Greene Street, Columbia, SC, 29208, USA.
authors.forename: Kristie
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kannaley
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000544:Alzheimer Disease; D001364:Awareness; D003256:Community Participation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011647:Puerto Rico; D061108:Social Media; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013663:Teaching; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Alzheimer’s disease; Community-engaged research; Content analysis; Facebook; Survey