Abstract
BackgroundCrowdsourcing method is an excellent tool for developing tailored interventions to improve sexual health. We evaluated the implementation of an innovation contest for sexual health promotion in China.MethodsWe organized an innovation contest over three months in 2014 for Chinese individuals < 30 years old to submit images for a sexual health promotion campaign. We solicited entries via social media and in-person events. The winning entry was adapted into a poster and distributed to STD clinics across Guangdong Province. In this study, we evaluated factors associated with images that received higher scores, described the themes of the top five finalists, and evaluated the acceptability of the winning entry using an online survey tool.ResultsWe received 96 image submissions from 76 participants in 10 Chinese provinces. Most participants were youth (< 25 years, 85%) and non-professionals (without expertise in medicine, public health, or media, 88%). Youth were more likely to submit high-scoring entries. Images from professionals in medicine, public health, or media did not have higher scores compared to images from non-professionals. Participants were twice as likely to have learned about the contest through in-person events compared to social media. We adapted and distributed the winning entry to 300 STD clinics in 22 cities over 2 weeks. A total of 8338 people responded to an acceptability survey of the finalist entry. Among them, 79.8% endorsed or strongly endorsed being more willing to undergo STD testing after seeing the poster.ConclusionsInnovation contests may be useful for soliciting images as a part of comprehensive sexual health campaigns in low- and middle-income countries.
Highlights
Crowdsourcing method is an excellent tool for developing tailored interventions to improve sexual health
Posts were included on social media feeds of organizations focused on sexual health (e.g., lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) organizations, Human Immunodeficiency virus (HIV) community groups)
Our study evaluated the quality, characteristics, and acceptability of sexual health campaign images solicited by an innovation contest
Summary
Crowdsourcing method is an excellent tool for developing tailored interventions to improve sexual health. We evaluated the implementation of an innovation contest for sexual health promotion in China. Sexual health has become an increasingly relevant and controversial topic among youth in China. Sexual education in China has not evolved to meet their needs, and many young people have limited knowledge of safe sex. Surveys of adolescents and college students have shown high rates of condomless sex Recently, researchers have implemented community outreach programs that have shown success in improving sexual health knowledge [9,10,11]. Young people may not feel comfortable or motivated to engage with them due to social stigma and differences in cultural understanding
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