Tailoring Digital Health Messaging to Community Need
Grapevine Health used short, community-filmed video content delivered by text to reach Medicaid members with type II diabetes, with 70% of viewers reporting they learned something new.
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The Problem
Grapevine Health identified a critical gap in underserved communities: insured patients with type II diabetes were unresponsive to medical communications, causing a lapse in diabetes-related primary care visits, follow-up care, or eye exams. In response, Grapevine Health offered patients a menu of services including digital health education using culturally appropriate, plain language to support management and prevention of various metabolic diseases.
The Intervention
Grapevine Health partnered with local CBOs and a mobile health company to identify and connect with Medicaid patients who had diabetes. Through the partnership with the mobile health company, Grapevine Health delivered diabetes and nutrition-related digital education content that utilized accessible language to facilitate knowledge and skill building in patients.
Costs And Funding Structure
Costs
$17,500 to $25,000 total cost to produce each video
- $7,500-$10,000 cost for videos filmed on the street
- $10,000- $15,000 for post shoot editing
Funding
The intervention was financed by Grapevine Health and involved the development of health education videos designed to engage audiences through accessible, relevant, and medically informed content. Video production included both street-based and off-street approaches. Street-based videos incorporated community outreach personnel, a producer, videographer, and sound technician to facilitate engaging, community-centered content. Off-street videos followed a more structured development process involving a researcher, script writer, and medical reviewer to ensure the content was accurate, clear, and appropriate for the intended audience. Following filming, all videos underwent post-production editing to create polished, accessible health education materials for dissemination.
Value
Financial
- No financial value outcomes were identified for this intervention.
Economic
- 16% of digital health education recipients engaged with the content.
- 50% of engaged recipients requested case management support.
Social
- 70% of all viewers reported that they learned something new.
- 81% of viewers of the eye exam content learned something new.
The digital health education campaign engaged approximately 3,000 Medicaid members with type 2 diabetes through text-message-based health education focused on managing metabolic health, including reading food labels, diabetes prevention, adequate sleep, and diabetic eye exams. The campaign measured engagement through text-message opens, video views, and responses.
Approximately 16% of recipients engaged with the digital health content, and about half of those who engaged subsequently requested case management support, strengthening opportunities for timely case management follow-up.
The campaign also demonstrated meaningful educational benefits with an average of 70% of viewers reporting learning something new, increasing to 81% among viewers of the diabetic eye exam content. These results suggest that targeted digital health education can both connect Medicaid members to additional support and increase their knowledge of important strategies for managing and preventing metabolic disease.
Lessons Learned
- Implementing one-size-fits-all health communication approaches may create missed opportunities to build trust, increase engagement and improve outcomes.
- Tailored digital health communication matters.
- These approaches increase uptake and learning through digital channels where people are already captive and spending time.
Resources and Continued Learning
