1. WEBINAR: Social Media 101 for
Community Health Centres
Updated March 2015
(Originally presented March 2011)

2. Outline
• 45 minute presentation
– Overview of social media and how/why CHCs can
use social media
– An “on the ground” look at social media use,
planning (London InterCommunity CHC)
– Some additional resources, supports and
opportunities for sharing
• Up to 45 minutes for questions and social
media “troubleshooting”

3. Where to begin?

4. Is this even relevant to what we do???

5. Key goals today are to
• De-mystify social media (SM)
– Better understand what they are and see through
some of the ‘noise’
– See how they fit with the vision & mission of CHCs
• Understand how SM can help you better
achieve your CHC’s mission, vision, priorities
• Leave with some tools, examples and resources
to advance SM planning, use at your CHC

6. OK…this isn’t so bad
after all !!!

7. #1: We need to make the distinction between
medium and content/use
From mental block to building blocks

8. #2: We need to better understand the
virtues of “Web 2.0”
From mental block to building blocks

9. • Blogging: short commentaries expressing your ideas and thoughts
about issues of importance to you. You control the content, the
message and the forum. Invites comments and encourages
dialogue.
• Micro-blogging: Tools like Twitter that allow you to share short
messages (~ 140 characters) instantly informing people of news,
updates and opinions. The short form enables quick and to-the-
point information exchange. A great way to help steer others
toward issues, news, events that matter to you. Power of the
“multiplying effect”.
• Social networking: Using applications like Facebook and Twitter
to establish and build relationships focused around common
interests, causes or events.
A few Web 2.0 basics

10. From mental block to building blocks
#3: Deep connection between social media
and CHC values and vision

11. From mental block to building blocks
• SM = CHC2
The value propositions and organizational methods of
Web 2.0 and social media are similar to those that
are deeply embedded in the CHC model and vision of
health and healthcare
• “Should we?” vs. “How?”
The question is not so much “should we” be using
SM, but how do we do so effectively and
manageably?

12. Yes, there is some work and
organizational change involved
• Where do you begin?
• Which social media tools do you use?
• How do you staff this new approach at your
CHC?

13. SM are not about doing something new. They
are about doing what you already do:
– in new ways
– in new places and spaces
– through new tools
– Not just for your communication leads
• Social media are tools that can and should be
used by health providers, program staff and
others at your CHC
Golden Key

14. A few examples of what you can do
• Engage local youth around health issues on Facebook
• Ask community members for input on local priorities
via Twitter, Facebook, blogs, etc.
• Post advocacy videos on YouTube, made with low-
cost, hand-held cameras
• Develop a following of local MPPs / MLAs, MPs,
Regional Health Authorities, Ministers, partner
agencies and others on Facebook and Twitter: gain
unprecedented access to decision-makers
• Join other CHCs and community partners around
shared advocacy efforts

15. ADVOCACY: SM enable us to break traditional
chains of access and control

16. Some recommendations
• Schedule social media conversation(s) at your
CHC
– There needs to be a buy-in process, and ideally this
should be at the management level. Achieving
broad buy-in generally takes time, but it always
starts with a conversation.
– Try to identify one or more “social media
ambassadors” or lead persons on your staff;
individuals who can help other CHC colleagues
move from “mental block to building blocks”

17. Some recommendations
• Identify and work forward from your CHC’s
current program and communications priorities
– It is important to anchor your social media planning
and use around current priorities, and to approach
SM as new tools to achieve your existing
organizational goals
– Among your current priorities, it is often helpful to
start where there is some early buy-in to get started
with SM. This way you can start small, share
successes and model SM use for others at your CHC

18. Some recommendations
• Embrace the collaborative spirit of social media
and recognize this journey as a way to build
bridges and unite staff, volunteers, others
– Reach out and identify who at your centre is already
using SM; invite a broad range of staff members into
the discussion – make this truly participatory!
– This may be an opportunity to build team morale and
collaboration!
– You may not know it, but you could already have SM
pros in your midst!

19. www.swchc.on.ca

20. A grassroots, birkenstock-wearing, health-
promoting, bike-riding, community-lovin’
CHC uses Social Media!
Social Media 101 Webinar

21. Why?
Many people in the broader community
(London, Ontario) don’t understand the full
depth and breadth of our Community
Health Centre’s programs, services and
mandate.

22. Why?
• More people will encounter us online than in
person. Our website and social media
presence will play an increasingly strong
role in influencing perceptions of our
services and our “brand.”
• (We get about 2500+ unique visitors to our
website each month)

23. Why?
• Participation in online communities can promote
better communication with our colleagues,
partners, funders, the general public, traditional
and non-traditional media and other community
stakeholders.
• If we are truly an adaptive organization that is
externally focused, we must adopt solutions that
help us communicate effectively and efficiently.

24. January 2010: Launched Facebook Page
http://www.facebook.com/LondonInterCommunityHealthCentre

25. Facebook
• Used for posting upcoming events, sharing program news,
recognizing partner agency success, links to ED Michelle
Hurtubise’s blog, posting pictures or “house keeping”
details such as hours of operation.
• 1000 people have “liked” the site as of March 2015
• Built in analytics capability allows us to see site
impressions, feedback rate, etc.
• Have used Facebook ads with limited success
• Facebook is consistently one of the top 10 referrers to our
website (i.e., one of the top 10 sites that people access
before visiting our primary website. “push-tool”)

26. November 3, 2010
London Free Press
• Canada has the heaviest Facebook profile penetration in the world
• Facebook users are making connections with public entities three times
faster than they are with traditional friends.
• Research group Nielsen found that Facebook users are 68% more
likely to remember seeing an advertisement if it’s shared by a friend.
They were 100% more likely to remember the message in the
advertisement and 300% more likely to purchase the product.
• “Facebook is effective word of mouth marketing. And for the very first
time you can do it to scale,”
• Starbucks for instance has roughly 2.7 million hits on its corporate
website per month whereas its corporate Facebook page gets 16.3
million hits per month.

27. May 2010: Launched new website
www.lihc.on.ca
• Complete overhaul of our Community Health
Centre’s website
• Built on a Wordpress platform
• Features latest news items, photo galleries, a blog,
fillable forms, traditional static pages, a survey
feature & more!
• 100% administered by our CommunityHealth
Centre – flexible and adaptive

29. Blog: Powered by Values

30. Powered by Values
• Michelle, our Executive Director, writes a weekly
post for her blog called “Powered by Values”
• Subject matter runs from national news items to
very local issues to Health Centre programming
• Attempt to link to other organizations, sources of
information/research and illustrate the photos if
possible

31. Website Analytics
• Built in Google Analytics allows us to track site
usage, where visitors come from, which pages they
view and how long they stay on the site
• In past months, we’ve had 1700+ unique visitors
• Since we launched the site, we’ve had 340 people
join our mailing list, and 150 people complete the
application form to become a volunteer at our
centre

32. Built in Google Analytics

33. October 2010: Launched Twitter account
http://www.twitter.com/HealthCentre

34. Twitter
• As of March 2015 we “follow” 590 Twitter accounts – local
and national news, fellow CHCs, local non-profit
organizations, LHINs, politicians, formal and informal
community animators, journalists, “special interest/advocacy
groups”
• As of March 2015 we are “followed by” 1650 Twitter accounts
– including Ontario Minister of Health Eric Hoskins; our Local
Health Integration Network; Premier Kathleen Wynne; London
Free Press journalists; local city councilors; individuals and
local non-profits

35. Twitter
• We use TweetDeck to create tweets and manage our
Twitter use and Megan (our Communications Manager)
uses a Blackberry for “live” tweeting and photo sharing from
events
• We use Twitter primarily to:
– Recognize partner organizations
– Drive people to new content on our website (events, jobs, blog
posts)
– Comment on local news stories that cover topics relevant to the
communities we serve
– Join provincial advocacy efforts
– Report back, informally, to our funder

36. We Needed a Social Media Policy
• We needed a social media policy that is informative
and provides pragmatic participation guidelines.
• Internal component: guidelines for employees
participating in online communities hosted by our
agencies or other agencies
• External component: guidelines for individuals
posting to our platform
• Basic do’s and don’ts… our code of ethics online

37. Sample Content
• Clear guidelines about what employees may and
may not say
• Branding information
• Rules of engagement
• Transparency

38. Other Social Media in Progress
• Youth Outreach Workers on Facebook and Twitter
• Francophone Community Developer has a
Facebook page en francais
• Grit Uplifted has a blog for publication of the
writings of our clients who are homeless – they also
have a Facebook page to drive people to the blog
• New Facebook page just launched for our new
Ethno-Racial Youth Mentoring Program

39. Some other social media
supports and examples

40. Online Social Media for CHCs section:
– Social media 101 description
– Various social media tools and examples designed
specifically for CHCs
– Links to external “social media for healthcare” sites and
resources
– Link to the global discussion forum “CHC Chat” – these
include regular discussion of social media use by CHCs
www.cachc.ca

41. Example from U.S. www.chc1.com

42. Thank you!
Scott A. Wolfe
Executive Director – Canadian Association of Community Health Centres
swolfe@cachc.ca
http://www.twitter.com/CACHC_ACCSC
Megan Cornwell
Communications Manager – London InterCommunity Health Centre
mcornwell@lihc.on.ca
http://www.twitter.com/HealthCentre
Mary MacNutt
Policy and Communications Manager – Association of Ontario Health Centres
marym@aohc.org
http://www.twitter.com/AOHC_ACSO