JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

During the COVID-19 pandemic, digital media emerged as a vital tool for the rapid dissemination of public health information to vast audiences. In many countries, public health communications shared via social media kept audiences informed, encouraged health-seeking behaviors, and helped address rampant misinformation throughout the pandemic. However, the impact of these digital communications efforts was limited by public health providers’ lack of training in how to leverage the full potential of online online advertising tools, behavioral insights, and marketing practices to target, test, and scale social behavioral communications for health. The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted an urgent need for greater capacity among public health organizations, including ministries of health, non-government organizations, public health agencies, academic institutions, and other public health experts, to rapidly develop and deploy impactful evidence-based, digital campaigns.

Objective:

To evaluate the impact of a massive online open course on digital campaign creation on learner confidence and ability to implement key skills.

Methods:

To address this need, we developed the Digital Media for Health Outcomes course, a “massive open online course” (MOOC), to train public health practitioners in all steps of campaign development, from evidence and insights collection to outcome evaluation. Grounded in behavioral science, the course was developed and led by experts from Ad Council, African Union | Africa CDC, Meta, Inc., Population Services International (PSI), UNICEF, World Health Organization and Yale University.

Results:

As of April 2025, the course enrolled 14,170 individuals in nine language versions, representing over 160 unique countries from all global regions. Learners who completed the course reported significantly higher confidence (+18%, 95% CI 17-20%) in their ability to use digital media to drive health outcomes, and in applying skills associated with effective campaign development, including leveraging behavioral insights (+16%, 14-18%) and evaluating campaign outcomes (+28%, 26-29%).

Conclusions:

The DMHO course demonstrates the potential of an expert-led, practice-based MOOC to improve confidence and skill level in leveraging digital media for effective health communication among public health professionals. However, further capacity strengthening is needed to encourage skill application.