1. Elizabeth Sager
Preceptor: Caress Roach, M. Ed.
Practicum Organization: Student Wellness at UNC Chapel Hill
Location: Chapel Hill, NC
Faculty Advisor: Carolyn Crump, PhD
Enhancing “Healthy Heels” Health Communication Strategy
Background: Health communication in higher education is a constantly changing field as
social media platforms become more integral to effectively communicating with
university students. Student Wellness at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
engages with students about various health topics and university programs through their
Healthy Heels social media platforms: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and a blog on
WordPress. The purpose of this practicum was to research best practices in health
communication and social media strategies and provide concrete recommendations for
improving their communication policies and strengthening the messaging of their Healthy
Heels platforms. Methods: In this position I researched best practices in health
communication in higher education and assessed the previous year’s social media
performance using analytics programs for each platform. Using a comprehensive social
media strategy framework as a guide, the Healthy Heels practices were compared with
best practices and formed the basis of a recommendations report assessing the strengths
and gaps in the current strategy. Results: The report outlined four core recommendations
as well as specific recommendations for each Healthy Heels platform: creating goals for
increasing engagement and tracking that engagement, refining blog categories to reflect
the Student Wellness dimensions of wellness, updating and organizing all social media
policies for staff and interns, and planning for future conversations about the content
UNC students want to see. Conclusion: The first three recommendations were completed
during the practicum timeframe. In early fall 2015, I presented my findings to Student
Wellness staff and facilitated a conversation to continue strengthening their health
communication strategy.