Leveraging social media for youth engagement in HIV prevention: evaluation of the Y-FIT GH open-call campaign in Ghana.

Authors

Gloria Aidoo-Frimpong, Senam Aku Biddah, Maame Araba Oduro, Abass Tando Abubakar, Yaa Adutwumwaa Obeng, Dorcas Adom, Winfred Kofi Mensah, Brian Ankrah, Daniel Selase Anyidoho, Paul Sowah, Ernest Ortsin, Stephen Ayisi-Addo, Caroline Kingori, Juliet Iwelunmor, Y-FIT GH Study Team

Published in

Health promotion international. Volume 41. Issue 5. Sep 01, 2026.

Abstract

Adolescents and young adults (AYA) in Ghana continue to experience barriers to HIV prevention, including stigma, limited awareness of HIV self-testing and pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), and insufficient access to AYA-friendly prevention services. This descriptive process evaluation examined how a 2-month, multi-platform communication strategy supported participation in the Youth-Friendly Innovation Tools for HIV Prevention in Ghana national open call for creative HIV self-testing and oral and long-acting PrEP advocacy ideas. The strategy combined paid Facebook advertising, LinkedIn dissemination, and peer-to-peer WhatsApp sharing. Data included platform analytics, dissemination records, application data, and participant-reported awareness sources. Facebook recorded 55 437 impressions and an estimated reach of 48 596 users; LinkedIn generated 650 impressions, 209 engagements, and 171 link clicks. WhatsApp was the dominant self-reported awareness pathway, although individual-level WhatsApp reach, engagement, and conversion could not be measured. A total of 103 eligible AYA submitted written, visual, and audio-visual entries. The findings indicate that organizers can combine broad-reach promotion with peer and institutional networks, mobile-first materials, multiple submission formats, and prospective source tracking. Because exposures overlapped and channel metrics were not equivalent, the study does not establish causal platform superiority. Multi-channel communication can support participatory HIV prevention while requiring offline and assisted options for AYA with limited digital access.

PMID:
42908420
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 23 Oct 2026.

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