#UsapTayo: Utilizing Tweetchat for Mental Health Advocacy in the Philippines

Abstract

Abstract Mental health remains a public health concern across countries. It is estimated that 1 in 4 people will be affected by mental or neurological disorders at some point in their lives. In the Philippines, about 3 million Filipinos live with depression. Mortality rate for suicide is 3.2 per 100,000 population. Meanwhile, social media use remains high in the country with 76 million users in 2019. It is thus important to explore potential ways in maximizing social media for mental health advocacy. From January 1 to December 31, 2019, a mental health tweetchat “#UsapTayo” (direct Filipino translation of WHO's #LetsTalk) was observed every 10th, 20th, 30th of the month from 7:00 to 8:00 PM. #UsapTayo aimed to answer how effective social media platforms like Twitter in promoting mental health awareness and education among Filipino Twitter users. Engagements and impressions from users were measured using Symplur, a healthcare hashtag analytics platform. From January to December 2019, a total of 4,626 users participated in the tweetchat. Impressions for the year reached 52 million with an average of 4.75 million impressions per month. Engagements and impressions were recorded highest in the month of September with 1,169 users and 8.74 million, respectively. Overall, the tweetchat #UsapTayo was able to generate 14,385 tweets for the complete calendar year with suicide prevention identified as the most discussed topic among Filipino Twitter users. Given the country's high social media penetration rate at 71% with Twitter ranking as the second most frequently used social media, leveraging this platform improves access to information and helps in normalizing conversations on mental health. #UsapTayo then partnered with #ThereIsHelp, a project initiated by Twitter to create safer spaces online through integration of suicide prevention measures. It was also recommended convening a multistakeholder consultation to develop a national mental health promotion and communication plan. Key messages Innovative platforms in social media like tweetchat can be leveraged to promote safer digital space for mental health and to strengthen online effort for suicide prevention especially among youth. It is important to maximize the use of social media platforms for mental health advocacy particularly suicide prevention given the Philippines’ high penetration rate and access to social media.