Hip Hop Public Health Recruited Baltimore Teens As Vaccine 'Ambassadors'
The nonprofit partnered with Johns Hopkins' Center for Adolescent Health, Baltimore County health officials and local schools to reach teenagers directly.
- The 'Lost Verse Challenge' had young Baltimore hip hop artists write original vaccine PSA songs.
- HeartSmiles and the Hopkins Vaccine Center trained teens as 'health ambassadors' inside Baltimore public schools.
- Rolling Out magazine and a multi-generational website carried the campaign's vaccine-story content beyond the schools.
Why it matters: A vaccine that needs teenagers and hip hop to sell it has already lost the argument on its merits.