Recognizing the power of social media, Unilab Foundation espouses digital volunteerism to help achieve its mission of building a healthier Philippines, one click at a time.
“We don’t have a choice on whether we do social media; the question is how well we do it.”
Erik Qualman, motivational speaker and author of the best-seller “Socialnomics”
According to WeAreSocial.sg, over 47 million Filipinos are active Internet users, spending an average of 5.2 hours every day on social media. But is this time well-spent?
In an effort to use social media for social good, non-profits are now investing to propagate their presence online. Recognizing the power of social media, Unilab Foundation espouses digital volunteerism to help achieve its mission of building a healthier Philippines, one click at a time.
Recently, the Foundation was invited to the 2nd Healthcare Social Media Summit by #HealthXPh to share its social media story to healthcare professionals and institutions, academe, patients and policy makers. #HealthXPh is a collaborative effort by healthcare stakeholders to discuss and use emerging technologies and social media to positively impact the Philippine health landscape.
One of the founders of #HealthXPh is Dr. Remo Aguilar, an Orthopedic Surgery consultant at the Southern Philippines Medical Center. Dr. Aguilar is an alumnus of the Leadership Journey (LJ), ULF’s leadership program for healthcare professionals.
The one-day Summit featured five tracks: Ethics, Patients’ Stories, Education, Policy, and Advocacy. Unilab Foundation Executive Director Rhodora Palomar-Fresnedi was one of the two speakers for the Advocacy track. The other speaker was Dr. Renzo Guinto, a Healthy Energy Initiative-Health Care without Harm-Asia Campaigner. Dr. Guinto is also an LJ alumnus.
The output of the workshop was a list of best practices for using social media for healthcare advocacy. Another LJ alumna involved in the Summit was Dr. Ivy Cloma-Rosales, who was a speaker in the Research Track.
Palomar-Fresnedi shared the best practices of Unilab Foundation’s social media campaign for a #healthierPH. “If you’re going for social media, be clear about your aims and objectives. Set the boundaries of your communications and stay true to them,” she said, highlighting the importance of crafting a social media content plan based on the organization’s mission and values.
“Define who your communities are, and engage them by designing the experience and choosing the right platforms,” she added. Palomar-Fresnedi invited the participants to join a growing community of digital volunteers for a #healthierPH – a concrete way to use social media for social good.