A Crowdsourcing Open Contest to Design a Latino-Specific COVID-19 Campaign: Mixed Methods Analysis

Abstract

Journal of Medical Internet Research - International Scientific Journal for Medical Research, Information and Communication on the Internet #Preprint #PeerReviewMe: Warning: This is a unreviewed preprint. Readers are warned that the document has not been peer-reviewed by expert/patient reviewers or an academic editor, may contain misleading claims, and is likely to undergo changes before final publication, if accepted, or may have been rejected/withdrawn. Readers with interest and expertise are encouraged to sign up as peer-reviewer, if the paper is within an open peer-review period. Please cite this preprint only for review purposes or for grant applications and CVs (if you are the author). Background: Latinos are among the most heavily impacted populations by the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States due to intersectional barriers to care. Crowdsourcing open contests can be an effective means of community engagement but have not been well studied in Latino populations nor in addressing the COVID-19 pandemic. Objective: 1) to implement and evaluate a crowdsourcing open contest to solicit a name for a social marketing campaign addressing COVID-19 for Latinos in Maryland; and 2) to conduct a thematic analysis of submitted entries Methods: To assess the level of community engagement in this crowdsourcing open contest, we conducted descriptive statistics of entries and votes, and demographics of participants. Submitted text was analyzed through inductive thematic analysis. Results: We received 74 entries within a brief 2-week period, with a timeline limited by the urgency of the COVID-19 pandemic. The top 10 entries were chosen by a panel of community judges and the winner was decided by popular votes. We received 383 votes within 1 week. The most common themes were collective efficacy, self-efficacy, and perceived benefits of COVID-19 testing. Conclusions: Crowdsourcing is an effective means of community engagement and an agile tool for guiding interventions to address COVID-19, including in populations impacted by healthcare disparities such as Latino communities.