Grants:Programs/Wikimedia Community Fund/Rapid Fund/Edit-a-thons on Disorders of Human Communication and Health Promotion (ID: 23481525)/Final Report
Application type: Standard application
Part 1: Project and impact
1. Describe the implemented activities and results achieved. Additionally, share which approaches were most effective in supporting you to achieve the results. (required)
The project comprised eight editing activities focused on Wikipedia, Wikidata, and Wikimedia Commons, surpassing the initial proposal of five events. These activities were conducted in virtual (online activity and support), in-person (on-site support), and hybrid (in-person activity with remote support) formats. The initiative involved partnerships with six teaching and research institutions, as well as a tutorial teaching group linked to the Brazilian Ministry of Health’s Digital Health Promotion initiative (PET-Saúde Digital).
Regarding metrics, the activities engaged 239 participants, with 182 contributing editors. This resulted in the improvement of 206 articles on Portuguese Wikipedia, the creation of 64 and editing of 227 items on Wikidata, and the addition of 46 media files to Wikimedia Commons. The editors came from diverse backgrounds, including audiology, speech therapy, linguistics, engineering, medicine, psychology, and dentistry. The collaboration among students, researchers, and professors from different fields demonstrates the potential of Wikimedia projects for online health promotion.
In terms of approaches, the reallocation of resources was the primary factor for the adjusted scope. Following the approved amendment, funds originally designated for travel (external facilitators) were redirected to catering for local events. This enabled the project to meet the demand from partner institutions and increase the total number of executed activities.
The geographical distribution spanned three regions of Brazil: the Northeast (Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte and Universidade Federal de Sergipe), the South (Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina and Faculdade IELUSC), and the Southeast (University of São Paulo, including both the Bauru School of Dentistry and the Bauru School of Medicine). More than 10 professors and researchers were involved in organizing activities at their respective institutions.
The initiative successfully fostered future collaborations with the participating institutions, particularly in digital health through the partnership with the PET-Saúde Digital group. Another outcome is the planned organization of educational activities on orofacial motricity and genetic disorders supported by WikiProject Hearing Health in partnership with the Federal University of Sergipe.
Description of the virtual activities:
(W1) Conducted with Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte on the topic of public health and scientific communication. The activity took place on September 12, 2025, recording 11 participants and 4 editors, resulting in 4 edited articles on Wikipedia.
(W2) Organized with Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina focusing on public health data (epidemiology) related to communication disorders. The activity took place on October 10, 2025, with 7 participants and 5 active editors. Contributions included 41 edited items and 20 created items on Wikidata.
Description of the hybrid activities:
(W3) Held in partnership with Faculdade IELUSC (Santa Catarina) focusing on hearing health. The activity took place on September 24, 2025, involving 26 participants with 22 contributing editors. Results included 45 edited articles on Wikipedia, and 4 edited and 4 created items on Wikidata.
(W4) Organized with Universidade Federal de Sergipe focusing on orofacial motricity and genetic disorders, such as cleft lip and palate. The activity took place on September 26, 2025. Metrics showed 18 participants and 14 editors, contributing 39 edits to Wikipedia articles.
Description of the in-person activities:
(W5) Conducted at the University of São Paulo focusing on speech therapy and language disorders. The activity took place on September 16, 2025, registering 38 participants and 33 active editors, resulting in 55 edited Wikipedia articles.
(W6) Hosted at the University of São Paulo on the topic of digital health and open health data. The activity took place on September 17, 2025, with 38 participants and 34 editors. Contributions totalled 96 edited items and 19 created items on Wikidata.
(W7) Held at the University of São Paulo regarding digital health and health promotion information. The activity took place on September 20, 2025, involving 32 participants and 29 editors. Outputs included 63 edited Wikipedia articles, 86 edited and 21 created Wikidata items, and 2 uploads to Wikimedia Commons.
(W8) Organized at the University of São Paulo with a theme of visual health communication. The activity took place on October 18, 2025. There were 69 participants and 41 editors, leading to 44 media files added to Wikimedia Commons.
The initiative achieved the proposal's objectives. It addressed content gaps in human communication disorders and health promotion by connecting academic institutions with Wikimedia projects. Integrating editing sessions into the university environment effectively encouraged students and researchers to contribute, increasing the volume of verifiable health information in Portuguese.
2. Documentation of your impact. Please use space below to share links that help tell your story, impact, and evaluation. (required)
Share links to:
- Project page on Meta-Wiki or any other Wikimedia project
- Dashboards and tools that you used to track contributions
- Some photos or videos from your event. Remember to share access.
You can also share links to:
- Important social media posts
- Surveys and their results
- Infographics and sound files
- Examples of content edited on Wikimedia projects
Meta-Wiki project page: https://w.wiki/FLkr
Wikipedia content list: https://w.wiki/FMB3
Wikidata content list: https://w.wiki/FMjj
Programs & Events Dashboard (Campaign): https://outreachdashboard.wmflabs.org/campaigns/editathons_on_disorders_of_human_communication_and_health_promotion/overview
Report and Metrics Page: https://w.wiki/Fuvh
Diff Blog Post: https://w.wiki/Fqp6
Academic Dissemination: Data and outcomes from this grant were analysed in two academic manuscripts submitted for peer review. Both publications acknowledge this Rapid Grant support: (1) Journal of Information Literacy: Manuscript titled "Embedding Information and Data Literacy with Wikipedia and Wikidata on Communication Disorders"; and (2) The Hearing Journal: Manuscript titled "Datathons for Computational Literacy in Audiology: Wikidata-Based Training Approach for Students".
Additionally, share the materials and resources that you used in the implementation of your project. (required)
For example:
- Training materials and guides
- Presentations and slides
- Work processes and plans
- Any other materials your team has created or adapted and can be shared with others
Main training materials, presentations, and editing guides developed for the project have been documented and uploaded to Wikimedia Commons. These resources are organized under the activity's category to ensure open access and reuse by the community (https://w.wiki/GAEo).
Other reference materials used were the documentation of WikiProject Hearing Health on Meta-Wiki (https://w.wiki/Fuxm) and Wikiversidade (https://w.wiki/9SLA); in addition to the reference for training documentation from the Programs & Events Dashboard (https://outreachdashboard.wmflabs.org/training).
3. To what extent do you agree with the following statements regarding the work carried out with this Rapid Fund? You can choose “not applicable” if your work does not relate to these goals. Required. Select one option per question. (required)
| A. Bring in participants from underrepresented groups | Agree |
| B. Create a more inclusive and connected culture in our community | Agree |
| C. Develop content about underrepresented topics/groups | Strongly agree |
| D. Develop content from underrepresented perspectives | Agree |
| E. Encourage the retention of editors | Agree |
| F. Encourage the retention of organizers | Agree |
| G. Increased participants' feelings of belonging and connection to the movement | Agree |
| F. Other (optional) |
Part 2: Learning
4. In your application, you outlined some learning questions. What did you learn from these learning questions when you implemented your project? How do you hope to use this learnings in the future? You can recall these learning questions below. (required)
You can recall these learning questions below: Content Impact: i) To what extent can coordinated editing activities reduce content gaps related to human communication disorders on Portuguese Wikipedia and Wikidata?; ii) Which thematic areas (e.g., audiology, voice, neurodiversity) show the greatest improvement in quality and quantity of content through structured activities?
Community Engagement: i) What are the most effective strategies for recruiting and retaining new editors in a specialized health-focused Wikimedia initiative?; ii) How do training sessions and mentorship influence participant confidence and willingness to continue contributing after the project ends?
Educational Value: i) How do students and professionals in health and communication sciences perceive the use of Wikimedia platforms as educational tools?; ii) Can editing Wikipedia and Wikidata enhance participants’ skills in science communication, digital literacy, and critical evaluation of sources?
Institutional Collaboration: i) How can partnerships between academia and Wikimedia communities be structured to support sustainable contributions to free knowledge?; ii) What institutional barriers or enablers affect the integration of Wikimedia-based activities into higher education or professional training programs?
Knowledge Equity and Accessibility: i) Does the availability of open and verifiable information on human communication disorders improve public access to knowledge among Portuguese-speaking communities?; ii) What kinds of multimedia or structured data are most impactful in increasing accessibility and understanding of complex health topics?
Content Impact: The volume of contributions (206 Wikipedia articles and 291 Wikidata items) indicates that segmenting the broad "Human Communication Disorders and Health Promotion" theme into specific subfields (e.g., hearing health, orofacial motricity) facilitated engagement for new editors. Participation metrics suggest that aligning editing tasks with the participants' specific academic or professional expertise resulted in effective mobilization and higher content productivity compared to generalist approaches.
Community Engagement: Resource allocation proved critical for engagement strategies. The reallocation of funds from external facilitator travel to local logistics (catering) created a conducive environment for long editing sessions. The high conversion rate (182 active editors out of 239 participants) may indicate that investing in local infrastructure and comfort is a more effective retention strategy than relying on the physical presence of external experts.
Educational Value: Partner institutions approached the project as practical training in science communication rather than simple data entry. The activities highlighted the distinction between academic writing and public dissemination, requiring students to synthesize complex data for a lay audience. This process effectively integrated Wikimedia activities into the academic environment as a tool for developing digital literacy and synthesis skills.
Institutional Collaboration: The scarcity of experienced external facilitators identified a barrier that necessitated a shift toward internal capacity building. Empowering local academic staff to lead sessions, supported by remote guidance and clear documentation, proved effective. The results demonstrate that universities can autonomously host Wikimedia events when provided with structural frameworks, reducing dependence on the limited pool of external Wikimedians.
Knowledge Equity and Accessibility: Beyond textual content, the project addressed structural gaps through Wikidata and Wikimedia Commons. Integrating data and multimedia from scientific sources helped connect previously scattered information. This structured approach contributed to the standardization of technical health terminology across Portuguese-language platforms, improving the accuracy and discoverability of complex health topics for the general public.
Future Use of Learnings: These findings support a strategic shift from an "itinerant organizer" model to a "train-the-trainer" approach. Future initiatives may prioritize empowering local faculty and student leaders to coordinate activities directly. Consequently, funding strategies could focus on supporting local logistics to enhance the participant's experience rather than covering travel costs for external organizers.
5. Did anything unexpected or surprising happen when implementing your activities? This can include both positive and negative situations. What did you learn from those experiences? (required)
We highlight the need to request an Amendment to reorganize part of the budget funds due to the difficulty of mobilizing facilitators for the activities as objective of the initial proposal. Also, it is relevant to point out a minor logistic issue that may have influenced the activities, being the difficulty of access to internet of some institutions, but which in the final result did not seem to influence significantly. We consider that future WikiProject Hearing Health initiatives may benefit from the use of participation and experience questionnaires (surveys) to analyze activities beyond quantitative metrics and qualify the activities developed, and the impact achieved on participants.
6. What is your plan to share your project learnings and results with other community members? If you have already done it, describe how. (required)
We had the opportunity to share about the project during meetings of Wikimedia Brazil and with the participants of the Organize! network (project managed by the Brazilian initiative calibra/calilu); and a submission of a Diff post. The activities of this grant entered into the scope of analysis of two publications for peer review journal organized by the research initiative WikiProject Hearing Health.
Part 3: Metrics
7. Wikimedia Metrics results. (required)
In your application, you set some Wikimedia targets in numbers (Wikimedia metrics). In this section, you will describe the achieved results and provide links to the tools used.
| Target | Results | Comments and tools used | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Number of participants | 50 | 239 | All participants of the activities were written in Dashboards related to the activities. The set of dashboards (delimited date of each activity) were organized in a Campaign. Tool: Program & Events Dashboard. Report: https://w.wiki/Fuvh |
| Number of editors | 50 | 182 | |
| Number of organizers | 2 | 2 |
| Wikimedia project | Target | Result - Number of created pages | Result - Number of improved pages |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wikipedia | 80 | 0 | 206 |
| Wikimedia Commons | 35 | 46 | 0 |
| Wikidata | 150 | 64 | 227 |
| Wiktionary | |||
| Wikisource | |||
| Wikimedia Incubator | |||
| Translatewiki | |||
| MediaWiki | |||
| Wikiquote | |||
| Wikivoyage | |||
| Wikibooks | |||
| Wikiversity | |||
| Wikinews | |||
| Wikispecies | |||
| Wikifunctions or Abstract Wikipedia |
8. Other Metrics results.
In your proposal, you could also set Other Metrics targets. Please describe the achieved results and provide links to the tools used if you set Other Metrics in your application.
| Other Metrics name | Metrics Description | Target | Result | Tools and comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Visualization of Wikipedia Edited Content | Viewing of the content created or edited on Wikipedia. | 10000 | 14000 | Wikipedia views data on November 20, 2025. Data collected with the Programs & Events Dashboard. |
9. Did you have any difficulties collecting data to measure your results? (required)
No
9.1. Please state what difficulties you had. How do you hope to overcome these challenges in the future? Do you have any recommendations for the Foundation to support you in addressing these challenges? (required)
Part 4: Financial reporting
[edit]10. Please state the total amount spent in your local currency. (required)
9989.78
11. Please state the total amount spent in US dollars. (required)
1886.49
12. Report the funds spent in the currency of your fund. (required)
Provide the link to the financial report https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/10Bf0JwMBsVs_rY41Abc2GRmJ_Li3N5EQbKNTQdJPPH8
12.2. If you have not already done so in your financial spending report, please provide information on changes in the budget in relation to your original proposal. (optional)
(1) Our spent budget was equivalent to BRL 9989.78** which was the real amount received from the transfer of USD 1944.9 on the date of August 26, 2025. Values can be confirmed by the proof of bank transfer of the Grant.
(2) An amendment request regarding the budget was submitted and approved (on 18 September 2025) during the implementation period. The change involved the reallocation of funds from the "Travel and accommodation" category to "Food and beverages". This adjustment allowed for the support of additional in-person activities organized with partner institutions, replacing the original plan of funding travel for external facilitators.
(3) Administration and fees: No transfer or administration fees were applied by the receiving bank. Information can be confirmed by the proof of bank transfer to receive the Grant.
(4) Excess values of the categories Other (BRL 5.62), Logistics and space (177.78) and overall difference in the value of the proposal for the categories used (BRL 239.78; excluding Administration and fees) in relation to the amount actually received of BRL 9,989.89 were redistributed. This difference totalled BRL 423.18 that were used in Food and beverages (BRL 52.34), Merchandize (BRL 249.51) and Communications and materials (BRL 121.33). All the amount received (BRL 9,989.89) was used within the limit and scope of the initial proposal.
- Exactly BRL 9989.59
13. Do you have any unspent funds from the Fund?
No
13.1. Please list the amount and currency you did not use and explain why.
N/A
13.2. What are you planning to do with the underspent funds?
N/A
13.3. Please provide details of hope to spend these funds.
N/A
14.1. Are you in compliance with the terms outlined in the fund agreement?
Yes
14.2. Are you in compliance with all applicable laws and regulations as outlined in the grant agreement?
Yes
14.3. Are you in compliance with provisions of the United States Internal Revenue Code (“Code”), and with relevant tax laws and regulations restricting the use of the Funds as outlined in the grant agreement? In summary, this is to confirm that the funds were used in alignment with the WMF mission and for charitable/nonprofit/educational purposes.
Yes
15. If you have additional recommendations or reflections that don’t fit into the above sections, please write them here. (optional)
We sincerely appreciate the Rapid Grant team for the support and prompt response regarding proposal adjustments. Gratitude is also extended to every participant who contributed to information on human communication disorders and health promotion, and to the educational institutions, professors, and researchers involved in the activities.