Designing and Testing an Inventory for Measuring Social Media Competency of Certified Health Education Specialists

• Published in: Journal of medical Internet research 2015-09, Vol.17 (9), p.e221-e221
• Main Authors: Alber, Julia M, Bernhardt, Jay M, Stellefson, Michael, Weiler, Robert M, Anderson-Lewis, Charkarra, Miller, M David, MacInnes, Jann
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Classical test theory; Collaboration; Communication; Competence; Computer industry; Discrimination; Disease control; Empowerment; Female; Health Behavior; Health care; Health education; Health Education - manpower; Health Education - standards; Health promotion; Health Promotion - methods; Health Promotion - standards; Health status; Healthy habits; Humans; Influence; Information technology; Literature reviews; Male; Measurement; Medical personnel; Original Paper; Professional Competence - standards; Professionals; Psychometrics; Public health; Public health education; Rasch model; Redundancy; Reliability; Reproducibility of Results; Responsibilities; Self Efficacy; Social media; Social Media - standards; Social networks; Social research; Specialists; Specialization - standards; Technology; Training; User behavior; User generated content; Web 2.0
• ISSN: 1438-8871; 1439-4456; 1438-8871
• DOI: 10.2196/jmir.4943

Social media can promote healthy behaviors by facilitating engagement and collaboration among health professionals and the public. Thus, social media is quickly becoming a vital tool for health promotion. While guidelines and trainings exist for public health professionals, there are currently no standardized measures to assess individual social media competency among Certified Health Education Specialists (CHES) and Master Certified Health Education Specialists (MCHES). The aim of this study was to design, develop, and test the Social Media Competency Inventory (SMCI) for CHES and MCHES. The SMCI was designed in three sequential phases: (1) Conceptualization and Domain Specifications, (2) Item Development, and (3) Inventory Testing and Finalization. Phase 1 consisted of a literature review, concept operationalization, and expert reviews. Phase 2 involved an expert panel (n=4) review, think-aloud sessions with a small representative sample of CHES/MCHES (n=10), a pilot test (n=36), and classical test theory analyses to develop the initial version of the SMCI. Phase 3 included a field test of the SMCI with a random sample of CHES and MCHES (n=353), factor and Rasch analyses, and development of SMCI administration and interpretation guidelines. Six constructs adapted from the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology and the integrated behavioral model were identified for assessing social media competency: (1) Social Media Self-Efficacy, (2) Social Media Experience, (3) Effort Expectancy, (4) Performance Expectancy, (5) Facilitating Conditions, and (6) Social Influence. The initial item pool included 148 items. After the pilot test, 16 items were removed or revised because of low item discrimination (r.90), or based on feedback received from pilot participants. During the psychometric analysis of the field test data, 52 items were removed due to low discrimination, evidence of content redundancy, low R-squared value, or poor item infit or outfit. Psychometric analyses of the data revealed acceptable reliability evidence for the following scales: Social Media Self-Efficacy (alpha=.98, item reliability=.98, item separation=6.76), Social Media Experience (alpha=.98, item reliability=.98, item separation=6.24), Effort Expectancy(alpha =.74, item reliability=.95, item separation=4.15), Performance Expectancy (alpha =.81, item reliability=.99, item separation=10.09), Facilitating Conditions (alpha =.66, item reliabili