Through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) High Obesity Program (HOP) project, land-grant institutions collaborate with Cooperative Extension Service (CES) to encourage healthy eating and active living to reduce rural obesity prevalence through policy, systems, and environmental (PSE) strategies. Communication activities complement HOP strategies to support project success, yet limitations exist within the Appalachian region due to the rural geography and lack of robust communication networks. There is no local radio station or news channel to distribute messages to Martin County residents, however there is a local newspaper and Facebook is popular in the community. Tailored strategies are necessary to communicate information to priority audiences within the CES. 

To tailor messages, the CDC HOP project team needed a strategy to reach community residents on the importance of healthy eating and active living in a timely and consistent manner. Through conversations with the county's CES staff and a community health coalition, Facebook was identified as a key communication channel. It has since been a priority method for engagement with its free and low-cost opportunities for encouraging health-promoting behaviors.

Through original post content and shared posts from the state FCS page, posts between July 2020 and May 2021 reached 21,183 people, with 10,987 engaging with content, on the Martin County CES Facebook page. This resulted in 44,939 media impressions, indicating more people are seeing the HOP content appear on their screens. Within that same period, the page experienced follower growth of 4%. Utilizing Facebook was particularly vital to the success of the HOP project in the last 12 months during the novel coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) with limited travel opportunities available for the HOP project team. Key posts in this time include promotions and shared success of the summer 2020 farmers' market and FitBlue walking challenge and the November 2020 “Turkey Trot” family physical activity event. To strengthen efforts, the team began utilizing paid media efforts in the form of boosted Facebook posts. Boosted post content has been particularly valuable in distributing messages, along with recruitment for CDC project research opportunities. Reaching more than 9,300 individuals, 1,200 individuals engaged in boosted content through post reactions, comments, likes, and shares in early 2021.

Using Facebook can be an effective tool to reach audiences in rural and low-income communities. The continued success of this communication network lends to the success of the HOP project. Thus, the UK team will continue to work with staff in the Martin County CES office to design and share culturally relevant content to encourage healthy eating and active living. Facebook will remain a primary method of communication for the duration of the project and beyond.