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

作者：Manuel A. Ocasio, Joanna Fashjian, Charles A. Haywood, Tamachia Davenport, Ashley Wennerstrom, Mallory O. Johnson, Parya Saberi, M. Isabel Fernández · 发表于：mHealth · 年份：2026 · DOI：10.21037/mhealth-2025-1-68 · 研究领域：Social Media in Health Education、Health Literacy and Information Accessibility、Mobile Health and mHealth Applications

Background: 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. Methods: 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. Results: We identified five themes related to the ben...