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Appalachian Influence

The Public Good Projects' CDC-funded social media programme (2022) that paid about 100 local influencers and recruited unpaid digital volunteers in West Virginia, eastern Tennessee and eastern Kentucky to post supportive, fact-based messages about harm reduction and syringe services programmes.

Years
2022
Reach
349K impressions as reported
“Process data, March-November 2022: 6,576 people engaged (3,385 WV, 1,515 TN, 1,148 KY), 100 paid influencers, 180 paid posts, 348,525 impressions and 29,133 engagements (Bonnevie 2023).”
Country
United States
Topic
DrugsHarm reductionOpioids
Asks people to
Reduce stigmaSupport a policy
Strategy
Stigma reductionTrusted messengerUser generated content
Channel
InfluencerSocial (organic)Website
Audience
General public
Residents of West Virginia (from April 2022), eastern Tennessee and eastern Kentucky (from July 2022).

Evidence

ObservationalPositive

Two cross-sectional surveys of West Virginia residents, at baseline (n=311) and 6 months after launch (n=300): the 105 follow-up respondents exposed to the programme showed significantly higher awareness of, and overall support for, most harm reduction programmes, with the largest difference for sterile needles/syringes (Leibensperger 2026). Process data, March-November 2022: 6,576 people engaged (3,385 WV, 1,515 TN, 1,148 KY), 100 paid influencers, 180 paid posts, 348,525 impressions and 29,133 engagements (Bonnevie 2023).

Sponsor (who paid)

  • The Public Good Projects NGO, creator
  • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Federal government, funder
  • CDC Foundation Foundation, partner

Credits (who made it)

Not recorded yet.

Related campaigns

Sources

  1. Leibensperger M, Dunn Silesky M, Gudmundsen C et al. Exploring the Impact of an Influencer-Led Program on Community Support for Harm Reduction in West Virginia: A Preliminary Evaluation. Subst Use Misuse 2026 evaluation · 2026 · DOI 10.1080/10826084.2025.2540947 · PMID 40810291
  2. Bonnevie E, Silesky MD, Goldbarg J, Gudmundsen C, Fields M, Smyser J. A multi-site intervention using influencers to communicate about syringe service programmes. Health Educ J 2023;82(7):779-791 evaluation · 2023 · DOI 10.1177/00178969231197623 · PMID 38650842
  3. Appalachian Influence (campaign site, The Public Good Projects) sponsor

Research notes

Drafted by Claude (Claude Code) on 2026-10-28 for #130 from the PubMed study and web sources listed; unreviewed, including the cardSummary. Exposed vs non-exposed comparison is cross-sectional and self-selected, so 'positive' is provisional. A search summary reported service recognition of 3.40 vs 2.42 services (exposed vs not, p<0.001); that figure was not read in the paper itself and needs checking before use. Funding per Bonnevie 2023: CDC, part of a USD 1.6 million HHS financial assistance award shared with Shared Influence (grant NU38OT000288); check the split. Process numbers cover March-November 2022 only. End year unknown: appalachianinfluence.org (redirects to appalachianinfluence.com) says the programme is no longer active; first Wayback capture Jan 2023. Social accounts @apinfluence (Facebook, Instagram). A 2025 mixed-methods process evaluation (Health Promotion Practice, 'Empowering Influencers to Support Harm Reduction') was not read.

Record cases/appalachian-influence.json, updated 2026-10-28· Link to this campaign