Sólo Se Vive Una Vez: The Implementation and Reach of an HIV Screening Campaign for Latinx Immigrants

Abstract

Latinxs in the United States are disproportionately affected by HIV and present with more advanced disease than their non-Latinx peers, due to numerous barriers to care including HIV stigma. We describe the adaptation, implementation, and reach of Sólo Se Vive Una Vez (You Only Live Once), Baltimore's first social marketing campaign promoting HIV screening among Spanish-speaking Latinxs. The 6-month campaign promoted free HIV testing by addressing HIV stigma. The campaign included a website, a social marketing campaign, community outreach events, and advertisements via radio, billboards, local partners, and buses. During the campaign, there were 9,784 unique website users, and ads were served to over 84,592 people on social media platforms. Among Latinx HIV testers at the Baltimore City Health Department, 31.6% reported having seen or heard of Sólo Se Vive Una Vez and 25.3% of Latinx HIV testers reported that the campaign influenced them to get tested.

Sólo Se Vive Una Vez: Evaluation of a Social Marketing Campaign Promoting HIV Screening and Prevention for Immigrant Latinxs

“…In a prior study, we demonstrated that the Vive campaign achieved comparable rates of exposure (31.6%, n = 135) among HIV testers to other social marketing campaigns targeting HIV stigma and promoting HIV testing in Latinxs [ 27 , 33 , 43 ]. Moreover, the majority of testers exposed to the campaign (85.0%, n = 108) reported that it influenced them to get tested, acknowledging self-reported rates may be subject to social desirability bias.…”

“…An iterative process was used to identify then prioritize the highest performing platform and advertisements. The highest performing advertisements were Facebook advertisements that addressed the following reasons people defer HIV testing: “I am in a stable relationship,” “I am not at risk,” “I am scared of the result,” and “I am ashamed” (translated from Spanish) [ 43 ]. Given that an important driver of low uptake of PrEP among Latinxs is low awareness, advertisements also included education surrounding PrEP.…”

“…Given that an important driver of low uptake of PrEP among Latinxs is low awareness, advertisements also included education surrounding PrEP. In a prior study discussing the implementation and reach of the Vive campaign, we found that the Vive campaign reached over 84,592 people through social media advertisements and attracted 9,784 unique users to the website [ 43 ]. The majority of users were brought to the website via Facebook (6,881 users, 70.3%) and Grindr (2,097 users, 21.4%).…”

The use of digital technologies in social marketing: a systematic review

“…The review found that digital technologies play a key role in the delivery and access to the interventions. Shah et al (2020) drew on the software and algorithms available on digital technologies for greater segmentation and targeting prospects for intervention delivery. They used a pre-programmed algorithm to identify what intervention elements needed to be delivered to the individual citizen to address their primary concerns (Shah et al, 2020).…”

“…Shah et al (2020) drew on the software and algorithms available on digital technologies for greater segmentation and targeting prospects for intervention delivery. They used a pre-programmed algorithm to identify what intervention elements needed to be delivered to the individual citizen to address their primary concerns (Shah et al, 2020). In comparison, text messaging formed a key part of intervention delivery for a number of studies.…”