Presented by

Ms. Raji Anand

Dr. Sohaila Cheema

The Anatomy of social media content in healthcare

Ms. Raji Anand, Dr. Sohaila Cheema

Weill Cornell Medicine - Qatar

raa2021@qatar-med.cornell.edu

With the rapidly evolving technological landscape, institutions must engage with their target audiences utilizing appropriate digital tools. Social media is now a key mechanism for communication especially in the healthcare sector. Not only millennials but a large percentage of older adults are using social media networks for seeking health information. Social media comprises websites and applications (internet-based tools) that enable users to create and share content or to participate in social networking. Currently, there are 3.2 billion daily active social media users which comprise 42% of the world population (Emarsys, 2019). The Institute for Population Health (IPH) at Weill Cornell Medicine – Qatar utilizes the social media platform to improve health awareness; motivate individuals to follow healthy lifestyles; transfer health information to the community, build brand awareness and enhance engagement with the community and healthcare professionals in Qatar and internationally. IPH creates social media content with images as well as videos as they are proven to draw higher engagement with audiences. We will outline how content can be structured in order to enhance its search engine optimization. Additionally, we will review the methodology of planning and scheduling content via HootSuite, a tool to find, schedule, manage and report social media content. Insights will be presented from the analysis of our social media platforms usage data. Additionally, we will discuss lessons learned; challenges; best practices and communication pearls relevant for social media usage. Social media has altered the way information is delivered and shared. However, it is important that social media content is useful and meaningful to the consumers. Readers requirements have completely changed and writers for social media platforms must innovate in order to adapt the content to these platforms. We must become trusted and credible sources of health-related information to which our consumers can reliably turn to.