P3.059: Enhancing Pediatric Disaster Preparedness: The Role of Social Media in Engaging Families and Hospitals

Purpose/Objectives: Social media has become a crucial source of information for families, particularly during disasters when parents seek quick updates and after a disaster for future planning. In response, Region V for Kids, a Pediatric Disaster Center of Excellence funded by the U.S. Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response, formed a Communications Workgroup to disseminate prompt disaster-related content via social media during disaster response and afterward during disaster recovery and mitigation. This study evaluated if Region V for Kids’ website user engagement improved with hospitals and families after leveraging social media for disaster content.

Design/Methods: This retrospective study, conducted from January 2024 to January 2025, analyzed user engagement metrics from the Region V for Kids website. Metrics included landing page views, active users, average engagement time, and bounce rates. These were compared with significant events, such as forming a dedicated communications team, hiring a communications specialist, and posting educational resources on social media including Facebook, Instagram, X, and LinkedIn. Targeted posts were made during active disasters and with content creators.

Results: After establishing the Communications Workgroup, hiring a communications specialist, and launching dedicated social media platforms, average engagement time increased from 5 to 33 seconds while bounce rates decreased from 49% to 22% demonstrating greater user interest. Website views increased following social media posts for the Ohio Tornado Outbreaks in May 2024 and Hurricane Milton flooding in October 2024 showing engagement during critical events. During September National Preparedness Month, frequent educational content posts doubled website views from 781 to 1531 and quadrupled to 3249 with a collaborative post with a content creator. Targeted social media posts also showed an impact on user engagement. Two family reunification posts resulted in a 2.5-fold and 3.5-fold increase, respectively, in reunification webpage views. One original content post for reunification doubled the average engagement time from 15 to 31 seconds on the reunification domain for the website. Similar trends were noted following two posts on individuals with disabilities, with a 6-fold and 1.6-fold increase, respectively, in page views and a 3.8-fold increase in active users for the Children and Youth Special Healthcare Needs toolkit page. Additionally, a post for Pediatric Medical Operations Coordination Cell resulted in a 2.4-fold increase in page views and a post for Hazard Vulnerability Analysis resulted in a 1.4-fold increase in page views. These metrics highlight the effectiveness of focused content on social media in driving engagement for specific domains on the website.

Conclusion/Discussion: Social media has emerged as a vital tool for efficiently disseminating critical information, particularly during the disaster response phase, but also throughout the disaster cycle. Region V for Kids successfully utilized social platforms to enhance engagement and promote best practices for pediatric disaster preparedness among families and hospitals.