JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

The COVID-19 pandemic has presented several food security challenges to the general public due to many factors including social distancing measures, reduced store hours, income loss, food hoarding, and closures of food security initiatives. Social media has been gaining popularity in the dietetic profession as a strategy to spread evidence-based nutrition information and is a possible strategy to help improve food security at a time when social distancing measures need to be in place. Eat Well Saskatchewan (EWS) implemented a positive 16-week social media campaign (#eatwellcovid19) using a storytelling approach to help residents to cope with food insecurity and the various challenges related to food and nutrition caused by COVID-19.

Objective:

To describe implementation and evaluation of a social media campaign (#eatwellcovid19) that was led by a registered dietitian and nutrition student at EWS using both social media analytics and semi-structured qualitative interviews of campaign followers.

Methods:

EWS encouraged Saskatchewan, Canada residents to submit positive personal stories that demonstrated coping strategies to deal with the food security challenges caused by COVID-19 from April-August 2020. Each week, one to three stories were featured on EWS social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter), along with evidence-based nutrition information to help residents become more resilient to food insecurity challenges experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. Individuals who submitted stories were entered into a weekly draw for a $100 grocery gift card. Social media metrics and semi-structured qualitative interviews of campaign followers were used to evaluate campaign impact.

Results:

In total, n=75 stories were received from Saskatchewan residents and n=42 were featured on social media. Overall, EWS shared 194 posts across social media platforms. The campaign reached 100,571 people on Facebook, left 128,818 impressions and 9,575 engaged with posts. On Instagram the campaign reached 11,310 people, made 14,145 impressions, received 823 likes and 15 comments. On Twitter the campaign made 15,199 impressions and received 424 engagements. Campaign posters were promoted with advertising and made the largest impact, next featured story submission posts made the largest impact on all platforms, except Twitter. The EWS Facebook page had a 12% increase in followers from the beginning of the campaign to the end. The EWS Twitter page had a 14% increase in followers. The EWS Instagram page had the largest increase in followers at 30%. Interview participants appreciated the positive, local and reliable content and stated the storytelling format helped them to feel connected to their community during social isolation.

Conclusions:

Storytelling proved to an effective approach in our social media campaign. Health professionals should consider utilizing a storytelling approach when designing social media campaigns and complement these stories with evidence-based content.