Background Despite the increasing number of patients receiving invasive long-term invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV) and the social importance of this issue, its public perception stays low. Therefore, the German PRiVENT project aims to raise public awareness for long-term ventilation. 

Methods A multi-professional team of physicians, health researchers, art directors and copywriters developed an extensive information campaign, including blog posts, podcasts, social media posts and information for medical professionals or patients/their relatives and made them available to the public on a dedicated homepage and various social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Linkedin and DocCheck). In this analysis, we assessed the scope of the campaign based on the number of views or klicks measured on the various platforms.

Results In the period from Feb. 21 to Feb. 22, a total of 45 blog posts, 489 posts on social media and 3 podcast seasons with a total of 15 episodes were published. The total reach was 2.2 million views, with Facebook and Instagram being the most used platforms with a total of 324 followers, 2.1 million views. Compared to Facebook (35-44 years), Instagram users were younger (age peak 25-30 vs. 35-44 years) and more often female (65.8% vs. 60.8%).

Conclusion The results show that social media can be used to raise awareness of long-term IMV among a younger target audience. With an issue of such relevance, the public should be involved to empower patients and their families and to highlight the importance of ventilator weaning in the medical community and in society's perception.