Instagram can connect patients with accurate food allergy information

Key takeaways:

• A 3-week campaign with 21 posts reached more than 2,411 user accounts and generated 3,601 impressions.
• Content included types of allergens, nutrition labels, autoinjector use and more.

ANAHEIM, Calif. — Physicians can use Instagram to connect with patients and provide accurate and valuable information, according to a poster presented at the American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology Annual Scientific Meeting.

“Social media provides valuable opportunities to educate on health literacy for any number of given diseases,” Natasha L. LaGrega, BA, a third-year medical student at University of Kansas School of Medicine, told Healio.

However, LaGrega cautioned, there is a huge abundance of misinformation online.

“Just this last April, if you searched the hashtag ‘food allergies’ on Instagram, there were over 464,000 posts with varying degrees of credibility, some of which were not even related to food allergies,” she said.

“That can be very overwhelming for our food allergy population just scrolling on Instagram every day and can contribute to unsafe practices,” LaGrega continued.

LaGrega and her colleagues created an Instagram account, @foodieallergist, to share information about food allergies based on high-quality, evidence-based resources. The team posted photos and short videos, also known as reels, every day for 3 weeks.

In creating their content, LaGrega said that she and her colleagues focused on the most common questions people might have, such as what the most common allergens are, or how to use an autoinjector.

Topics included sharing safe resources, learning about food allergies, reading nutrition labels, and recognizing and treating food allergies.

In an April 1 video, Marissa A. Love, MD, assistant professor in allergy, clinical immunology and rheumatology at the medical school, demonstrated how to use an Auvi-Q epinephrine autoinjector.

An April 5 video provided the clinical definition of food allergy and explained the role of the immune system and IgE in reactions. LaGrega visited a local vegan café in an April 6 video to explore options for avoiding animal-based food allergens.

“We usually follow the practice parameters, and we highlight any guidelines associated with that,” Love told Healio.

Love also noted that she and her team work with the Center for Food Allergy & Asthma Research at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and follow the accounts of other noted experts, including David R. Stukus, MD, FACAAI.

“We’re really looking at evidence-based content,” Love said.

Next, the researchers used Instagram’s Insights function to track the impact of these posts. The photos reached an average of 24 accounts per post, and the reels reached an average of 263.9 accounts per post, with an average of 286 plays per reel.

“There’s also a huge degree of variability, with our second video post reaching almost a thousand accounts and over a thousand plays, and our eighth one reaching only 62 accounts,” LaGrega said.

The post with a thousand plays, which was the most popular post of the campaign, was a video of real-life examples of the nine most common food allergens.

“But I would still argue that 60-some people is far more than I see in a clinic day and really shows a vast number of teaching opportunities that can happen in just a few seconds compared to the amount of time you might have to spend with someone in clinic to really explain some of these topics,” she continued.

Overall, the campaign reached 2,411 user accounts, generated 96 profile visits, engaged 29 new accounts to its page and ended with 18 followers, producing 3,601 impressions.

“In just this short amount of time, we were able to present a lot of validated evidence-based food allergy information and had lots of little moments to educate our population,” LaGrega said.

The team continued its posting after the study period, with a recipe for baked milk muffins for oral food challenges in an April 13 video. Additionally, an April 20 post explained the differences between food allergy and food intolerance.

Although the team does not post daily anymore, the account remains active with new posts twice a week. Recent posts have focused on seasonal topics such as pumpkin spice lattes and allergen-friendly Halloween candy.

The team also is looking at other social media and has started posting on TikTok, although more volunteers are needed due to the time requirements.

In the meantime, LaGrega said, the Instagram posts are simple to create.

“We just used Canva to make these very pretty posts,” she said.

But although flashy graphics and catchy background music may grab a lot of attention, LaGrega warned, physicians who would like to launch similar campaigns should emphasize the content.

“Focus on your patients’ most commonly asked questions, concerns or misconceptions,” she said.

LaGrega added that being focused on patient well-being and health literacy is the No. 1 goal of her and her team as providers.

“Addressing those common topics can be a great, user-friendly way to clear up information for the most amount of people,” she said. “It’s not really about going viral. It’s about creating a safe space to educate, build trust and share credible information, just like we would do in a clinic room.”