Increasing Men’s Engagement in HIV Testing and Treatment Programs through Crowdsourcing: A Mixed Methods Analysis in Eswatini

Citation

Hlatshwako, Takhona; Conserve, Donaldson F.; Day, Suzanne; Reynolds, Zahra; Weir, Sharon S.; & Tucker, Joseph D. (2021). Increasing Men's Engagement in HIV Testing and Treatment Programs through Crowdsourcing: A Mixed Methods Analysis in Eswatini. Sexually Transmitted Diseases, 48(10), 789-797. PMCID: PMC8418618

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Sub-Saharan African HIV programs have had limited success in engaging men. Crowdsourcing contests may be a useful method to spur men's engagement in HIV services. We evaluated contributions and social media response to a crowdsourcing contest focused on increasing men's engagement in Eswatini HIV services.
METHODS: We conducted a crowdsourcing contest to gain insight from the public on how HIV campaigns can more effectively engage young (20-40 years old) men in HIV services. Eligible submissions included images, songs, videos, and internet memes. We used standard qualitative methods to examine textual themes from submissions. We examined social media response using Facebook analytics, comparing the number of people reached through crowdsourced HIV messages and the number of people reached through conventional HIV messages.
RESULTS: We received 144 submissions from 83 participants. They represented 55 towns and all four regions of Eswatini. The contest page gained 461 followers on Facebook. Emergent themes included appealing to men's roles as protectors by suggesting that they need to take care of their own health to continue safeguarding their families. Crowdsourced messages reached a mean of 88 individuals across four posts; conventional messages reached a mean of 75 individuals across four posts.
CONCLUSIONS: Crowdsourcing contest submissions provided insight on how to encourage men to engage in Eswatini HIV services. Crowdsourcing contests can be effective in collecting messages from men to create more locally relevant communication materials for HIV programs.

URL

http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/olq.0000000000001408

Reference Type

Journal Article

Year Published

2021

Journal Title

Sexually Transmitted Diseases

Author(s)

Hlatshwako, Takhona
Conserve, Donaldson F.
Day, Suzanne
Reynolds, Zahra
Weir, Sharon S.
Tucker, Joseph D.

Article Type

Regular

PMCID

PMC8418618

Continent/Country

Sub-Saharan Africa
Eswatini

Sex/Gender

Men

ORCiD

Weir - 0000-0001-6014-1460