In June 2009, the WHO upgraded the so called Swine Flu to a pandemic. Stockholm County Council immediately started planning for what was feared to become one of the most difficult challenges in the health sector. The flu differed from earlier epidemics by hitting our young ones the hardest. Vårdguiden (the health information portal) needed to strengthen the relationship with the young and it was clear that this had to be done in a new way, conventional authority channels and tonalities would not work.Apparently, the teens didn’t want to come to us, so by moving to conversation online - we went to them. Through long-term effort in social media, Stockholm County Council changed the manner of how an authority can communicate and suddenly become interesting for new audiences. It became not only an opening for dialogue with the group, but also a great way to get media interested in the problem with the hard-hit youths, from a totally new perspective.By using only social media and PR we reached 14 million the first week. Two months after the project was launched, 88 percent of people up to the age of 18 were vaccinated and Stockholm was overall the most vaccinated capital in the world.

Stockholm County Council had a mission from the Swedish Government; to offer a free vaccine shot to its inhabitants. The objective was firstly to guide residents of Stockholm to correct healthcare instances and secondly to take an informed decision to get vaccinated.

The quantitative objective was to vaccinate 80% of young Stockholmers.

Inspired by the book Decamerone, we let ten celebrities tell us their thoughts, ideas, views on health, vaccination, Swine Flu and life in a blog called The Swine Blog. The selection of writers were carefully made to attract young Stockholmers. Each one was to publish one text on a special day every week throughout a period of 28 days. By establishing a fan page on Facebook, the health information portal approached the target group in new form. New information was brought out through the status line. Questions by Stockholmers were responded to directly or directed to the appropriate institution. A special alcogel bottle with the blog URL logotype was produced and distributed to media houses and in connection with vaccination at e.g Stockholm University. The initiative was launched via off line PR and within less than 24 hours, the communication was taken up by no less than 70 newspapers, Internet papers and broadcasting stations. In addition, the project was much discussed in various social media formats.

Through its blog and Facebook-page, Vårdguiden reached out to many who had no relation with the health care system. Offering new arenas for dialogue on the blog resulted not only in interesting thoughts on health, humour, music and extensive media coverage but more importantly, it was the beginning of a beautiful friendship with young Stockholmers, opening up a completely new standard for communication by official authorities in Sweden. The Facebook page is now a regular part of the city health information portal. Apart from the 4,000 fans on Facebook, the Swine blog was visited generated a media reach of 14,000,000, in the first week alone. The Swedish Minister for Health and Social Affairs selected the project as a European best practice case for how authorities should communicate. Two months after project Decamerone started, no less than 88 percent of young people up to the age of 18 were vaccinated and Stockholm was overall the most vaccinated capital in the world.

As young people risked being hit the hardest by the pandemic, communication with this group was prioritised by Stockholm County Council. However, they didn’t have a strong relationship with these young citizens. How could we get their attention? We found the answer in the history of literature.In the 14th century, when the plague swept across Europe, Giovanni Boccaccio told the story in the classic book Decamerone how 10 young souls fled Florence to escape the plague and to tell each other stories. What then was a conversation between 10 people could in the age of the Internet be much bigger. It could be the talk of the town.By using a completely new concept of communicating with its citizens, Stockholm County Council decided to let its healthcare information portal for Stockholmers, Vårdguiden, meet the youth where they are – online.

Diverging information and views on Swine Flu and vaccination circulated and added to the confusion and fear. The media had two major stories to tell – the danger of the disease, and the danger of the vaccine. The flu also differed from previous epidemics – it hit our otherwise strongest citizens the hardest – our youth. Part of being young is feeling immortal, and as it turned out, young people were the biggest vaccine opponents and they were not particularly interested in the health authorities' information either. We had a problem.