HIV/AIDS Prevention & Service Provider Locator to Facebook

Taking the AIDS.gov HIV/AIDS Prevention & Service Provider Locator to Facebook

 

Eight hundred million peopleare active users of Facebook ,according to the site’s own statistics. That’s one in nine people living today. Of those 800 million, over 50% check their account on a daily basis.Because it serves as a connecting point for millions, we developed a Facebook app with our HIV/AIDS Prevention and Service Provider Locator (the Locator). This allows users to search for services without leaving Facebook. The Locator features HIV testing, housing assistance, health centers, Ryan White HIV care facilities, mental health clinics, substance abuse services, and family planning locations. Each of these services is plotted on the map, based either on your location or the zip code or city/state you provide in the search box. The Locator also links to Google Maps so that you can get directions to services.Repurposing the Locator across social media channels like Facebook extends the reach of this tool. Increasing awareness of the many HIV/AIDS service locations across the United States and connecting people to care by providing simple directions on a mapping interface is the primary goal of the Locator. By placing it directly on Facebook, it our hope that more people will be able to find these important resources in their own communities.Facebook recently announced more than 60 new apps for the Facebook timeline. It is important to note that apps may have potential negative privacy implications . However, the AIDS.gov HIV Prevention & Service Provider Locator is a confidential health information service. This app does not collect any personal information about you nor does it share the search results or your visit to your wall.

 

By Jeremy Vanderlan, Technical Deputy, AIDS.gov

 

ABOUT AIDS.gov BLOG

A large number of Federal agencies and programs are engaged in HIV/AIDS prevention, testing, treatment, policy, and research efforts in the United States. AIDS.gov serves as a gateway for information about these Federal efforts, with a focus on domestic programs.

Since the launch of AIDS.gov on December 1, 2006 (World AIDS Day), there has been a growing interest in using new media tools to disseminate information about HIV/AIDS and improve prevention, testing, treatment, and research outcomes. AIDS.gov created this blog to address that interest, and has since expanded content areas to include key US Government HIV/AIDS-related research and policy posts, among other topics.

This blog serves as a forum to foster public discussion on using new media effectively in response to HIV/AIDS, as well as HIV/AIDS research and policies. The intended audiences for the blog include, but are not limited to:

• Individuals and organizations using, or wanting to use, new media tools in the response to HIV/AIDS, including minority public health leaders;
• Members of the public and Federal staffers who would like to see the Federal government adopt emerging technologies, when appropriate, to improve information delivery and services
• Public health professionals, healthcare providers, and consumers looking for Federal HIV policy and research news

Along with weekly new media posts, the blog features other AIDS.gov-authored posts, guest posts, cross-posts from the White House Office of National AIDS Policy blog and the CDC Health Protection Perspectives blog, PEPFAR blog, and posts from the National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases’ (NIAID) Division of AIDS. More specifically, the blog’s content areas aim to:

• Introduce and explain new media tools in the context of their use in response to HIV
• Share information about HIV/AIDS awareness days
• Highlight examples of new media use in the HIV community including lessons learned and highlights from key conferences
• Provide information about Federal HIV policy and research news
• Promote Federal HIV testing, prevention, treatment, and research programs and initiatives, especially those using and/or wanting to use new media tools

This blog is intended to be a dynamic, online conversation, and we welcome your comments, ideas, and stories. We moderate comments and post them in accordance with our Comment Policy.