Research paperHealth communication

HLT 665 Topic 3 Public Health Communication and Social Media

The brief hands you a hypothesis and three weeks of observation to test it. Deciding what to count before you start is what turns the paper into evidence.

Editorial process

Last reviewed · August 25, 2026

Written by

Maren Caldwell

MSN, RN, CNE

Medical-surgical nursing, pharmacology and NCLEX preparation

Reviewed by

Dr. Tessa Redmond

DNP, RN, CNE

Evidence-based practice and clinical education

On this page

Interpret the task
Assignment instructions
Deliverables
Proposed outline
Research plan
Reference shortlist
Final review

You have been handed a hypothesis and a way to test it

The brief's opening sentence is a claim: engaging channels are used by public health organisations to disseminate rather than to engage. Three weeks of following one account is enough to test that, and the paper is far stronger if you treat it as a small piece of observation rather than as an impression formed afterwards. Decide what to count before you start. Posts per week, and how many are one-way announcements against how many invite a response; replies from the organisation as a proportion of questions asked; time to reply; whether any thread continues past the organisation's first answer; and how many posts are shared from another account rather than written for this audience. Those numbers make the degree of engagement question answerable rather than a matter of opinion. Deciding in advance also protects you from noticing only the posts that confirm the claim the brief handed you.

The recommendations section then has something to stand on, and it should be constrained by why public health accounts behave this way rather than assuming carelessness. Clearance processes mean a reply may need approval that a live conversation cannot wait for; regulatory and privacy obligations make responding to an individual's health question genuinely risky; staffing is usually a fraction of a person; and a public health account answering one user has to consider what the answer looks like to everyone reading. Recommendations that acknowledge those constraints and work inside them, pre-cleared response templates for recurring questions, scheduled expert sessions, redirecting individual clinical questions to a channel that can handle them, will read as informed. The risks section should also cover misinformation in replies, which is the exposure that makes some organisations broadcast deliberately. Recommendations that ignore the constraints read as naive to anyone who has run such an account.

Likely learning objectives

Treat a stated claim as a hypothesis to test with observation.
Define engagement measures before the observation period begins.
Explain broadcasting behaviour through clearance, privacy and staffing constraints.
Write recommendations that work inside those constraints.

Assignment instructions

Read the full question

Review every instruction before using the planning guidance that follows.

Details: Social media channels are designed to be engaging; however, these media are often used by public health organizations and practitioners as a means to disseminate mass information, rather than to engage audiences in meaningful interaction. Harnessing social media to best achieve public health outcomes is a topic of much discussion and study in the public health community.For this assignment, you will analyze public health communication via social media in your community. Follow a public health organization, local or national, on a social media channel (e.g., Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn) for at least 3 weeks. In a paper of 1,000-1,250 words, address the following: Describe the benefits/advantages and challenges/risks of using social media for public health communication. Describe the organization you followed and the social media channel you selected. What kind of information is shared on social media by the organization? To what degree does the organization engage with users/followers (e.g., responding to questions, engaging in conversation, hosting “chats” with experts, soliciting information)? What improvements or suggestions would you make to this organization regarding its social media engagement? Why? Use at least three scholarly sources to support your paper. HLT 665 Topic 3 Public Health Communication and Social Media Prepare this assignment according to the guidelines found in the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center. An abstract is not required. This assignment uses a rubric. Please review the rubric prior to beginning the assignment to become familiar with the expectations for successful completion. You are required to submit this assignment to Turnitin. Please refer to the directions in the Student Success Center.

Course-wide instructions that accompany this question

ADDITIONAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE CLASS Discussion Questions (DQ) Initial responses to the DQ should address all components of the questions asked, include a minimum of one scholarly source, and be at least 250 words. Successful responses are substantive (i.e., add something new to the discussion, engage others in the discussion, well-developed idea) and include at least one scholarly source. One or two sentence responses, simple statements of agreement or “good post,” and responses that are off-topic will not count as substantive. Substantive responses should be at least 150 words. I encourage you to incorporate the readings from the week (as applicable) into your responses. Weekly Participation Your initial responses to the mandatory DQ do not count toward participation and are graded separately. In addition to the DQ responses, you must post at least one reply to peers (or me) on three separate days, for a total of three replies. Participation posts do not require a scholarly source/citation (unless you cite someone else’s work). Part of your weekly participation includes viewing the weekly announcement and attesting to watching it in the comments. These announcements are made to ensure you understand everything that is due during the week. APA Format and Writing Quality Familiarize yourself with APA format and practice using it correctly. It is used for most writing assignments for your degree. Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for APA paper templates, citation examples, tips, etc. Points will be deducted for poor use of APA format or absence of APA format (if required). Cite all sources of information! When in doubt, cite the source. Paraphrasing also requires a citation. I highly recommend using the APA Publication Manual, 6th edition. Use of Direct Quotes I discourage overutilization of direct quotes in DQs and assignments at the Masters’ level and deduct points accordingly. As Masters’ level students, it is important that you be able to critically analyze and interpret information from journal articles and other resources. Simply restating someone else’s words does not demonstrate an understanding of the content or critical analysis of the content. It is best to paraphrase content and cite your source. LopesWrite Policy For assignments that need to be submitted to LopesWrite, please be sure you have received your report and Similarity Index (SI) percentage BEFORE you do a “final submit” to me. Once you have received your report, please review it. This report will show you grammatical, punctuation, and spelling errors that can easily be fixed. Take the extra few minutes to review instead of getting counted off for these mistakes. Review your similarities. Did you forget to cite something? Did you not paraphrase well enough? Is your paper made up of someone else’s thoughts more than your own? Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for tips on improving your paper and SI score. Late Policy The university’s policy on late assignments is 10% penalty PER DAY LATE. This also applies to late DQ replies. Please communicate with me if you anticipate having to submit an assignment late. I am happy to be flexible, with advance notice. We may be able to work out an extension based on extenuating circumstances. If you do not communicate with me before submitting an assignment late, the GCU late policy will be in effect. I do not accept assignments that are two or more weeks late unless we have worked out an extension. As per policy, no assignments are accepted after the last day of class. Any assignment submitted after midnight on the last day of class will not be accepted for grading. Communication Communication is so very important. There are multiple ways to communicate with me: Questions to Instructor Forum: This is a great place to ask course content or assignment questions. If you have a question, there is a good chance one of your peers does as well. This is a public forum for the class. Individual Forum: This is a private forum to ask me questions or send me messages. This will be checked at least once every 24 hours.

What Topic 3 requires

01A 1,000-1,250 word paper in APA style with no abstract.
02Following a local or national public health organisation on a social media channel for at least three weeks.
03The benefits and advantages and the challenges and risks of using social media for public health communication.
04A description of the organisation followed and the channel selected.
05What kind of information is shared, and the degree to which the organisation engages with users.
06Improvements or suggestions regarding its social media engagement, with reasons.
07At least three scholarly sources.