Frequently asked questions about the APHA Flu Near You Challenge

Why is APHA organizing the Flu Near You Challenge?
Who is eligible for this challenge?
What are the challenge awards?
Can I win more than one award?
Will I definitely get a award if I meet the threshold for an award category?
What is the timeline for the challenge?
What do I have to do if I decide to participate in the APHA Flu Near You Challenge?
What do I do after I register as an entrant in the challenge?
Who can I inspire to sign up as a user of Flu Near You?
What will the Flu Near You users have to do?
When will the winners be announced?
Can I sign up as part of a group?
How can I become an APHA member?
Are there restrictions on how I use my award money?
If I decide to participate in the challenge, can I recruit friends and family to help?
Will Flu Near You users be able to respond to the weekly survey via mobile devices?
Will the health information that users submit be protected?
Will I be able to track how I am doing in the challenge?

Why is APHA organizing the Flu Near You Challenge?
APHA, with the support of the Skoll Global Threat Fund, is interested in enlisting APHA members who are leaders in the public health field to better understand and engage the public in flu surveillance. So HealthMap developed the Flu Near You website. Flu Near You facilitates early threat detection through greater public awareness and direct participation by the general public.

By getting involved in this challenge, the APHA community can build on the Association’s ongoing Get Ready campaign and be on the cutting edge of determining new and innovative ways to engage the public in public health surveillance for flu.

Who is eligible for this challenge?
All APHA members are eligible to participate and win in the individual category. All Sections, Special Primary Interest Groups, the Student Assembly, Caucuses, state and regional Affiliates and agency members can win in the group category. Your APHA membership must be current from the time you enroll to participate in the challenge through Nov. 1, 2012.

What are the challenge awards ?
The details of the awards and the minimum threshold requirements to be eligible for the various levels of prizes are explained in the challenge rules and regulations.

Can I win more than one award?
Individual challenge entrants can only win one cash award. Likewise, any group can only win one cash award.

Will I definitely get a award if I meet the threshold for an award category?
No, just because you meet the minimum threshold for awards, you are not guaranteed to win. The winners will be determined based on the total numbers of surveys among those who meet the minimum thresholds.

What is the timeline for the challenge?
The challenge begins on Nov 2, 2011, at 4:01 p.m. EST and runs through Oct. 15, 2012, at 5 p.m. EST.

What do I have to do if I decide to participate in the APHA Flu Near You Challenge?
You need to register as an entrant via the challenge registration page.

What do I do after I register as an entrant in the challenge?
You need to inspire as many people (or “users”) as possible to enroll in Flu Near You using an individual APHA link that will be assigned when you register. You can be as innovative as you like when engaging possible users, but you cannot enroll people directly. Users must enroll themselves in Flu Near You.

Who can I inspire to sign up as a user of Flu Near You?
You can reach out to any individual who resides in the U.S., 13 years of age or older, to inspire them to sign up for Flu Near You. You will get credit when that person fills out the registration form and completes a minimum of one flu surveillance weekly survey during the challenge period. Users can only sign up once (i.e., using multiple email addresses is prohibited).

What will the Flu Near You users have to do?
The Flu Near You users, who must be at least 13 years old, will have to register with their email address, ZIP code and month and year of birth. Once registered, they will receive a weekly email linking to a short survey with questions about possible flu symptoms and vaccine status that takes 10 to 15 seconds to complete.

When will the winners be announced?
The winners will be announced at APHA’s 140th Annual Meeting, which will be held in San Francisco Oct. 27-31, 2012.

Can I sign up as part of a group?
Individuals may designate a group to benefit from their user recruitment when registering for the challenge. Thus, their users will count toward both their individual total and the group goal. By designating a group, the challenge does not detract from their individual total.

How can I become an APHA member?
You can sign up to become an APHA member via the Association website.

Are there restrictions on how I use my award money?
No. If you win an award, it means you have served your APHA community well in recruiting users to Flu Near You. The cash award is therefore yours to do with as you choose.

If I decide to participate in the challenge, can I recruit friends and family to help?
Yes. How you decide to engage people in Flu Near You is entirely your decision. Only the individual APHA member who registers as a challenge participant will receive the award, but you are free to share in whatever way you want. Remember, this is about being innovative.

Will Flu Near You users be able to respond to the weekly survey via mobile devices?
Yes, users will be able to respond via Internet browsers on their mobile devices, laptops or desktop computers.

Will the health information that users submit be protected?
The data submitted will be anonymized into Flu Near You. Please refer to HealthMap’s Flu Near You privacy policy for more details.

Will I be able to track how I am doing in the challenge?
Yes, you can visit the challenge leaderboard to check your individual and group rankings.

Need more information about APHA's Flu Near You Challenge? Contact us
Have questions? Call us at 202-777-2425 or send an e-mail.

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