Lights, Camera, Action: “Reel” Stories from TB Survivors

Background:

Many people think that tuberculosis (TB) is a disease of the past. However, thousands of people in the United States are diagnosed with TB disease every year. TB patients often report experiencing stigma and isolation during treatment. Some experience uncertainty during the time leading up to diagnosis, and patients are sometimes misdiagnosed. Sharing personal stories of TB survivors’ experiences during these challenges can help reassure TB patients, and be a helpful motivational tool for TB programs and providers to encourage patients to complete treatment.

Program background:

In January 2019, DTBE released 5 new videos and print stories describing the experiences of individual TB survivors. Three montage videos were added to the series that combine footage across multiple survivors discussing a particular TB topic. Another recent addition to the series is a video describing the work of an experienced TB control professional. In addition to the videos featured on the TB Personal Stories website, DTBE has developed over thirty short video clips featuring survivors and a TB control professional. These short videos focus on specific aspects of patients TB experiences such as treatment challenges, support from TB program staff, and messages to current TB patients, as well as other TB topics such as latent TB infection testing and treatment. Social media graphics and short video clips have been used on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

Evaluation Methods and Results:

Page views of the TB Personal Stories homepage increased by 2,048 (56%) during the 4 weeks after launching 9 new videos in January 2019, compared with the 4 weeks before launch. The total number of YouTube views for the 9 new videos was 2,613 (as of February 8, 2019). Social media posts on DTBE and CDC agency Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram accounts showed continued engagement, with Twitter in particular driving 365 page views of the TB Personal Stories homepage. Several local and state TB programs regularly use the videos in clinics and community outreach efforts, and advocacy groups share videos on social media.

Conclusions:

The expansion of survivors and topics featured in the TB Personal Stories series has helped DTBE communicate key TB messages to its intended audiences. The stories of TB survivors, and a TB control professional, told through video and print, and promoted through short video clips and social media graphics, has helped educate the public, decision makers, stakeholders, and TB patients and their families that TB is still a problem, that it can happen to anyone, and that public health TB control programs play a key role in finding, treating, and curing people with TB.

Implications for research and/or practice:

As video content becomes an increasingly important part of digital communications, videos highlighting individual’s experiences with TB help DTBE communicate key TB messages to TB patients, TB control programs, health care providers, and policymakers. The project strengthens DTBE’s partnerships with advocacy groups and state and local TB programs, and provides the opportunity to engage with survivors using storytelling to communicate with audiences through the increasingly preferred medium of video.