Reach and effect of a virtual campaign for promoting physical activity during the covid19-era

Abstract

Measures put in place to curb the spread of the coronavirus have inadvertently fostered a reduction in physical activity. This study reports a virtual campaign designed to promote the health and physical activity level of individuals and increase awareness on practices to curb the spread of Coronavirus. The campaign enlisted a total of 141 volunteers recruited via a public call for volunteers to share promotional e-posters through their social media platforms for eight days; Each day focused on a different theme such as setting up an ergonomic home office, proper posture and home workout sessions across age groups. The reach was measured in terms of total engagement with 130 posts on 5 social media platforms. Total engagement defined as all interactions with the content was 15,889. WhatsApp recorded the highest engagement (86.3%), while engagement from Facebook (0.04%) was the lowest. The peculiarity of the online platforms ensures content can still be viewed irrespective of when posted, therefore the reach of the campaign can increase over time without promotional efforts. Key words: Covid-19, health promotion, social media, virtual campaign.