eHealth Activities
Seasonal Influenza Vaccination: 2007-2008 Flu Season
(Updated November 30, 2007)
In support of CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases (NCIRD) annual Seasonal Flu Vaccination campaign, the National Center for Health Marketing (NCHM) initiated a variety of eHealth efforts to motivate people to Get Vaccinated! Many of this year's activities launched during this year's National Influenza Vaccination Week (November 26 - December 2) and will continue through January, 2008.
Blogs
CDC recently hosted a webinar for "mommy bloggers." CDC health communication specialists and seasonal flu subject matter experts met online with "mommy bloggers" to discuss basic information on seasonal flu and share research on key messages that have been proven to motivate people to get vaccinated. CDC hopes to educate and empower mommy bloggers to spread the word, not the flu.
Health e-Cards
CDC.gov users can encourage their friends, family, co-workers, and public health partners to get vaccinated by sending a seasonal flu Health e-Card! By adding a personal message to CDC's research-based seasonal flu health messages, users can share the facts about seasonal flu and encourage those they care about to get a flu vaccination. CDC Flu Health e-Cards are available in both English and Spanish. www.cdc.gov/ecards
Online Collaborations
- Focus on Low-Income Audiences
CDC partnered with One Economy Corporation to provide critical seasonal flu vaccination messages on the One Economy Web site, http://www.thebeehive.org. One Economy Corporation is a nonprofit organization dedicated to using technology to meet the needs and potential of low-income audiences.
CDC's seasonal flu fact sheet content and links to CDC's seasonal flu resources are available in English at: http://www.thebeehive.org/Templates/Health/Level3Image.aspx?PageId=1.2.159.12448
For the Spanish language version, select Español at top of page.
- Graphical Buttons for Web Sites
CDC invited online partners, including government agencies, state and local health departments and other Web partners, to add the "Get Vaccinated" graphical button to their Web sites, email signatures, and blogs. The "Get Vaccinated" button links to CDC's seasonal flu Web site, http://www.cdc.gov/flu. CDC has also added the flu button to CDC.gov pages, CDC's Second Life space, and other CDC-managed Web space. Instructions for adding the image to your Web site available at: http://www.cdc.gov/flu/nivw/help.htm
- Badges for Sharing on Social Networks
CDC's eHealth developed a seasonal flu "badge" for users of social networks to use on their profile pages. For the first time, CDC is encouraging users to share the "I Got Vaccinated" message with their friends, families, and online network. MySpace users can cut and paste the graphical badge from CDC's newly launched MySpace profile and place it on their own MySpace (or other) social network profile: http://www.myspace.com/cdc_ehealth
Widgets
CDC's eHealth is piloting CDC.gov's first Google Gadgets that will allow users to have a CDC Seasonal Flu update as part of their personal homepages. The CDC.gov Seasonal Flu widgets can also be used to syndicate content onto other Web sites, such as blogs, health department Web sites, and other Web sites that wish to participate, allowing CDC.gov content to be presented within the context of the partner Web site. The first Seasonal Flu Widgets are available now at http://www.cdc.gov/widgets.
Vodcasts/Podcasts
CDC.gov and iTunes users can watch or listen to a video podcast about seasonal influenza vaccination manufacturing and production—and share it with their friends. Go to http://www.cdc.gov/podcasts and browse by topic ('Influenza' or 'Influenza and Pneumococcal Vaccination') to view the podcast.
Email Updates and Mobile Alerts
Sign-up to receive email updates or alerts sent directly to your mobile phone when CDC.gov's seasonal flu content is updated:
http://www.cdc.gov/flu/updates.htm
Seasonal Flu Activity Map
CDC's seasonal flu activity map, an important element of CDC's weekly flu report,
has been upgraded to provide easier access to information. The map is now located in a prominent location on CDC's seasonal flu Web site, http://www.cdc.gov/flu, and allows users to scroll through each week of flu activity and easily view the national changes in flu activity. http://www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly/usmap.htm
CDC.gov "Keyword" Marketing
NCHM/eHealth is piloting "keyword" marketing on the CDC.gov search engine. CDC.gov users who search for "flu," "influenza," or several other selected keywords will receive the "Get Vaccinated" promotional messages on their search results page. This is CDC.gov's first trial in proactively reaching out with timely health messages tied to search results. When preliminary results are analyzed, CDC will determine the impact of this strategy.
CDC.gov Home Page Feature
In collaboration with NCIRD, a feature article is included on the CDC.gov Home page to alert visitors to the importance of getting vaccinated. Written for the consumer audience, the article, Prevent the Flu: Get Vaccinated, provides basic information about the flu, who should get vaccinated, the symptoms and complications of flu, and how flu is spread. http://www.cdc.gov/Features/FluPrevention/
Photo Sharing
Seasonal flu images from CDC's Public Health Image Library (PHIL) have been added to the popular photo sharing Web site, Flickr.com. Now more public health partners and general consumers can access and use CDC's scientific images related to seasonal flu. http://www.flickr.com/photos/cdc_e-health/
Virtual Worlds and eGames
For the second year, CDC is partnering with Whyville, a popular virtual world for "tweens," children ages 8-11, to promote seasonal flu vaccinations. Whyville kids invited their grandparents to a special "in-world" party on November 29, 2007, where gamers of all generations were virtually vaccinated together and
talked online with a CDC influenza expert. More than 10,000 Whyvillians were vaccinated virtually in the 2006 campaign. http://www.whyville.net/
For more information about CDC's Seasonal Flu eHealth efforts, contact Erin Edgerton at eedgerton@cdc.gov or 404-498-2237.
Page last modified on December 4, 2007