The LIVEWell website was created by Elaine Bowen to inform, inspire, connect, and encourage West Virginians towards healthier lifestyles. The website features stories of inspiring residents, weekly challenges, recipes, blogs, and resources from affiliate organizations. Analytics show the website is motivating improved health among Extension employees and focus group participants rate weekly tips and recipes highly. The literature supports that online messages can increase healthy behaviors when customizable goals, social support, and daily messages are provided. Lessons learned include the need for fresh, relevant content and constant promotion to establish the site as a health information source.

1. Elaine Bowen, EdD, CFCS, LD
Extension Specialist, Health Promotion

2. In the beginning, life was simple…
a new challenge every week.
But then…

3. A Spark Ignited,
creating the LIVEWell website to
 Inform
 Inspire
 Connect
 Encourage

5. Website Features
 Stories of “Inspiring West Virginians”
 Special Features
 Weekly Challenges & Tip of the Week
 Recipes
 Blogs
 Resources
 Links to Affiliate Organizations

6. The Shape We’re In
Mud River
Pound Punchers

7. Summer Steps Challenge

8. Showcase Important Resources

9. Let’s Take a Walk
http://livewellwv.ext.wvu.edu/

10. Promoting Our Website
o Link with other websites
o State Fair drawing
o Billboard

11. “What’s In It For Me?” (WIIFM)
Read blogs
See inspiring West Virginians in “The
Shape We’re In”
Support work to make communities
healthier places to live, work, and play
Showcase programs and resources

12. More WIIFM…
Track your steps
Try weekly “LIVEWell Challenges” for
simple daily health changes
Check out new resources for kids,
parents, teachers, schools, and
communities
Try healthy recipes
Use content in Extension newsletters
and media

13. Weighing Our Progress
ExtensionEmployee Online Survey
Focus Groups
Google Analytics

14. Weighing Our Progress
Extension employees reported
health improvements (61%) and
increased motivation (70%)
Focus group participants rated
weekly tips and recipes highest
The average visitor views 3.2 pages
and spends 3.02 minutes on the site

15. What Does the Literature Tell Us?
“Take-home Nugget” Study
Online messages can contribute to an increase in Nyquist, Rhee, Brunt, &
Garden-Robinson (JOE
healthy food consumption and physical activity, and Dec 2011)
is a desirable intervention tool
Participant ability to customize goals, compare O’Neill & Ensle (JOE
Apr 2012)
progress to others, and receive daily messages
effectively motivates for positive behavior change
Patton’s (2011) developmental evaluation framework Kelsey & Stafne (JOE
Oct 2012)
is an excellent model for evaluating eXtension CoPs
Recommended best practices for websites include Doty, Doty & Dworkin
(JOE Dec 2011)
user-friendly design, navigation, and consistency
techniques

16. Resources
The Health Communicator’s Social Media Toolkit
http://www.cdc.gov/socialmedia/tools/guidelines/p
df/socialmediatoolkit_bm.pdf
Making Health Communications Work
http://www.cdc.gov/healthcommunication/healthb
asics/whatishc.html

17. Health Communications Basics
 Content: Describe specific health action
 Voice: Cite a respected source
 Positive impact: What happens as a result
 Tell a story: Example of a person like them
 Connect: Relate to specific audience needs
and feelings
 Call to action: Bottom line message

18. Lessons Learned
 Content has to be fresh and current
 Oversight of contributors and deadlines is time
consuming
 Establishing a website as “the source” for quality
info requires constant promotion and visibility
(internal and external)
 Newspaper partnerships are tricky (academic vs.
public journalistic perspective)
 There are distinct generational differences in how
audiences gather and use information/websites

19. “The Team”
 Core Team of Extension specialists, tech staff,
and Director of Communications
 The Charleston Gazette staff
 35 Contributing Authors: specialists, agents,
students, other university faculty
 Guest Bloggers
 Affiliate Members
 Walking Groups

20. Special Acknowledgements
 Emily Murphy, Extension Specialist
 Ann Bailey Berry, Associate Director
 Cassie Waugh, Program Coordinator
 Sherry White, Multimedia Specialist
 Gitta Jenkins, Database Technician
 Alex Yohn, Assistant Director-Technology

21. Thank You!
Contact Me
Elaine.Bowen@mail.wvu.edu