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Table 2 SESH and crowdsourcing contests to create demand for HIV testing and other services

From: HIV epidemiology and responses among men who have sex with men and transgender individuals in China: a scoping review

Purpose of the Program

To create more engaging and effective sexual health services using crowdsourcing and other social entrepreneurship tools.

Methods of the program

SESH has organized and evaluated several creative contributory contests and other programs [76]. For example, in 2013, we launched our first contest to solicit videos promoting HIV testing. First, SESH posted an online open call for videos and hosted a call to increase awareness of the contest. Second, a group of multisectoral judges evaluated each of the video entries, giving them a score of 1–10 and selecting a group of finalists and a single winner. Judging criteria included reaching individuals who had never tested before, generating excitement, and community responsiveness. Finally, the winner from the contest was formally evaluated and selected as an intervention tool.

In 2014, SESH launched a sexual health image contest to encourage young students to talk about sexual health. We promoted the contest information as well as sexual health knowledge among young people though online (broadcasting and interacting on wechat and weibo) and in-person events (lectures, activities, and workshops). In 2015, SESH launched a condom video contest to solicit videos promoting condom use among MSM. Then in 2016 the World Health Organization invited SESH to organize a global contest to solicit hepatitis testing innovations [73].

Outcomes

SESH has data from RCTs, qualitative research, and social media suggesting the effectiveness of crowdsourcing as an approach. Two RCTs demonstrated that crowdsourcing was effective and saved money compared to conventional evidence-based marketing approaches [52, 63].

Lesson learned

Crowdsourcing could be a useful way to spur creative, new ideas for improving health and engaging communities. This new tool may be especially useful in low and middle-income countries where civil society organizations are often constrained or less able to directly inform public health programs. Crowdsourcing contests may help create more engaging, effective, and creative campaigns [33, 35].