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Patients, health professionals, and communities use social media to communicate information about health determinants and associated risk factors. Studies have highlighted the potential for social media to reach underserved populations, suggesting these platforms can be used to disseminate health information tailored for diverse and hard-to-reach populations. Little is known, however, about the use of social media among American Indian and Alaska Native populations. The objective of this cross-sectional study is to better understand the use of social media platforms to disseminate information across these populations. Our team surveyed 429 American Indian and Alaska Native adults attending cultural events in Washington State on their use of various types of social media. We used logistic regressions to assess participant use of Twitter, Snapchat, Facebook, and Instagram as related to participant demographics, including age, gender, education, and their place of residence (on-reservation, rural off-reservation areas, or large metropolitan areas). Findings showed that Facebook was used by more participants than other platforms (79%), followed by Instagram (31%). Nearly half of participants used only one social media platform (48%). Age was negatively associated with using Instagram (0.8 OR, 95% CI: 0.7, 0.9) and Snapchat (0.6 OR, 95% CI: 0.5, 0.7). College education was associated with higher odds of using an additional social media platform compared to those without any college education (2.0 OR, 95% CI: 1.1, 3.6). Most participants used social media platforms, which suggests these platforms may be a useful tool in disseminating information to American Indian and Alaska Native peoples. Further research should document how social media can be used to effectively disseminate risk and health information and assess whether it can influence health knowledge and behaviors among these populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) people infrequently participate in Alzheimer's disease (AD) research, despite the rapidly increasing population of AI/AN people aged 65 and older., Methods: We surveyed 320 adults who identified as AI/AN at two Native-focused events and used ordinary least squares regression and logistic regression models to test associations between demographic factors and perceived risk of AD, knowledge about AD, and willingness to participate in research, along with preferred source of AD information., Results: Willingness to participate in research was highest among those living in a city versus reservation and associated with perceived personal risk for AD. Health professionals and the internet were preferred sources of information about AD., Discussion: These hypothesis-generating results provide insight into perceptions of AD and willingness to participate in research. Conclusions could inform development of AD recruitment strategies for AI/ANs and influence participation in AD research., Competing Interests: The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest., (© 2022 The Authors. Alzheimer's & Dementia: Diagnosis, Assessment & Disease Monitoring published by Wiley Periodicals, LLC on behalf of Alzheimer's Association.)