Creation of a Tailored Social Media Campaign to Educate Adolescents and Young Adults About Clinical Trials: The Talk to Me Study.
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PURPOSE: Medical advancements have improved survival of adolescent and young adults (AYAs) for many cancers but not to the same extent as the pediatric and older adult populations. This is at least partly due to this group being systematically underenrolled in cancer clinical trials. To increase AYA knowledge about clinical trials, we developed and tested culturally relevant, developmentally tailored content delivered via social media. METHODS: We assembled a multidisciplinary team of AYA cancer care providers and patient advocates to co-develop social media messages to address AYA-reported barriers impacting clinical trial enrollment (CTE). These included concerns about time commitments, costs, toxicities, and general trial information. Messages were strategically disseminated on Instagram, and engagement was evaluated with usage metrics. We also assessed the acceptability and appropriateness of the materials. RESULTS: Over 8 months, we posted 173 messages and acquired 215 followers with 840 profile views; 89.2% of followers were female, and 74.6% of our followers were 18-44 years. Posts reached 5217 unique accounts. The mean monthly follower growth rate was 9.1%, the reach-to-follower ratio was 1.23%, and the engagement rate was 2.53%, supporting strong content visibility beyond our immediate follower base. CONCLUSION: We demonstrated the feasibility and acceptability of using social media to convey basic information about cancer clinical trials to AYAs. Guided by a multidisciplinary team approach and in close collaboration with patients, we successfully disseminated a social media campaign on Instagram. From this formative work, increasing the reach and uptake and assessing the effect of these messages on CTE decision-making are critical next steps.