National Institutes of Health (NIH)

Under a grant from the NIH, we teamed up with one of the nation’s leading practitioners and researchers in the area of sexual health and well-being to develop a new way to engage and educate underserved populations about the human papilloma virus (HPV).

The result was HealthTea, a seamless, web-based healthcare app that helped educate Boston-area, gay males aged 17–28 about HPV. While education was a primary directive, the app eventually evolved to allow users to schedule appointments and track vaccinations. Data and results captured through HealthTea was be used to expand the app to target a national audience.

To build trust and increase engagement, Vision developed videos to run inside the app to encourage users and guide them through the process of getting vaccinated. We found a relatable host who was not only a member of the target audience but was also a nurse at the clinic where vaccinations happen.

Vision also developed and designed an online advertising campaign to drive users to the app. Through a series of targeted focus-groups and interviews, it was determined that advertising within a dating app environment would yield the highest number of impressions. Testing also revealed that adult humor would be a highly effective at generating a high click-through rate - all of which proved to be true.

Challenges:

• Low level of awareness about the prevalence and risks of HPV among target audience, who are the most at-risk

• Target audience is extremely challenging to engage on the topic of HPV

• Concerns about personal privacy and general lack of trust made engagement problematic

Solutions:

• Use humor and a relaxed tone to aggressively advertise in social apps most frequently used by target audience (Grindr, Jack’d)

• Provide a financial incentive to take the survey that connect users to the app

• Partner with a local LGBTQIA health center to help ease some of the anxiety commonly associated with any health concerns