The Latin American lupus community lacks trustworthy and culturally appropriate health education materials. For a study, researchers discussed an online initiative in Spanish and Portuguese to educate Latin Americans about lupus. The program’s conception, execution, distribution, and assessment were all supported by a large network of Latin American partners. Core subjects were chosen by patients and rheumatologists. The information was developed by rheumatologists utilizing evidence-based data. To satisfy the audience’s health literacy and cultural values, modifications were made. Social media was utilized to share audiovisual content and enhance user interactions with peers and instructors, and a website was built to provide in-depth information.
The Spanish and Portuguese sites had the most extensive reach, with over 20 million individuals reached and 80,000 followers after 3 months. Almost 90% of followers were from Latin America. A high level of engagement and good replies to a satisfaction survey shows that these materials were valued by Facebook users. More than 62,000 page views were recorded on the Spanish and Portuguese websites, with 71.7% of visitors from Latin America.
Patients and stakeholders must be included in order to offer and spread credible lupus education. Social media could be utilized to educate and facilitate relationships between lupus patients and certified health care providers. Although social media-based health education had a larger and more scalable reach than the Web site, it was more demanding on the professional team. However, because Latin Americans emphasized social contacts while obtaining lupus knowledge, the website was less likely to be used as a major education source.
