Abstract :

Digital Health Influencers, Individuals Who Build Engaged Online Audiences Around Nutrition, Fitness, Mental Wellness, And Disease-prevention Content, Have Emerged As An Influential Channel For Preventive Healthcare Communication, Particularly Among Younger And Digitally Native Populations. This Paper Examines The Role Of Digital Health Influencers In Promoting Preventive Healthcare Behaviors And Awareness. A Mixed-methods Research Design Was Used, Combining Structured Questionnaires Administered To Social Media Users With Content Analysis Of Posts From Prominent Health Influencer Accounts And Secondary Data Drawn From Published Digital Health Communication Studies. The Study Evaluates The Content Themes Most Frequently Promoted By Digital Health Influencers, Quantifies Changes In Audience Preventivehealth Awareness, Screening Intent, And Lifestyle Behavior After Exposure To Influencer Content, And Identifies The Credibility, Misinformation, And Engagement-sustainability Challenges Associated With This Communication Channel. Findings Indicate That Digital Health Influencers Meaningfully Increase Preventive-health Awareness And Short-term Behavioral Intent, Particularly Around Nutrition, Fitness, And Mental Wellness, Although Concerns About Content Accuracy, Lack Of Clinical Credentials, And Inconsistent Messaging Remain Significant Limitations. The Paper Concludes With Recommendations For A Credibility-anchored Collaboration Framework Between Digital Health Influencers And Public Health Institutions.

Published:

03-6-2019

Issue:

Vol. 19 No. 6 (2019)

Page Nos:

21-27

Section:

Articles

License:

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

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