Use and Acceptance of Social Media among Community Health Workers

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Background: The use of social media as a means for health communication has greatly increased among health promotion specialists. Community Health Workers (CHWs), who serve as liaisons between health services and community members, are one group of health professionals who could benefit from integrating social media into occupational practice. The purpose of this study was to explore CHWs' intention to use social media to fulfill their occupational roles, their current use of social media, and other factors that influence their intention to use and current use of social media. Methods: The research instrument was distributed as an email survey. The instrument contained three sections of questions: (1) use of social media tools as a CHW, (2) questions related to the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology, and (3) demographic questions. A total of 196 CHWs completed the survey. Results: The most common social media tools used as a CHW in both their personal life and professional role were social networking websites (89.3% and 76.9%, respectively), SMS texting (81% and 70.3%), and content sharing sites (71.1% and 56.2%). Social influence (P < 0.05), performance expectancy (P < 0.05), and voluntariness of use (P <0.05) were associated with behavioral intention. Building individual and community capacity (P < 0.05) and the workplace providing social media tools (P < 0.0001) were associated with current social media use in occupational roles. Conclusion: Using social media as a CHW may open additional communication channels with the communities they serve. As reported in this study, some CHWs are already using social media tools both to fulfill job responsibilities and in their personal lives; however, CHWs may need support from their workplaces and proper training in order to more fully adopt social media into their work settings.