25th April 2012 – World Malaria Day – Sustain gains: Save Lives: Invest in Malaria

Looking at the calendar of events I notice that next week is World Malaria Day. A disease that I suspect most of us only think about in the context of planning that special holiday maybe to Africa or Asia, but what about Europe? Looking on the WHO website I hadn’t realised that there are still five countries in the European region that report endemic cases each year. Admittedly I’m not planning immediately to go to Uzbekistan on my travels but who knows, they may win this year’s Eurovision song contest like Azerbaijan did last year! So, you might want to consider taking those little tablets to give you some protection whilst you watch Englebert Humperdink croon his way to victory – or not.

Whilst the world map might show that malaria is shrinking, and in certain parts of the world that means lives are being saved; this year’s campaign reminds us there still needs to be investment in prevention measures if the aim of eliminating malaria from the European region is to be achieved by 2015. So click on the link and see what everyone else is getting up to this year, and if you can, put the logo on your website and wear your badge with pride.

http://www.worldmalariaday.org/home_en.cfm

World Health Day 7th April 2012 – Healthy ageing

Recently I’ve been thinking more about staying healthy, possibly because I am now conscious of the ageing process and trying to convince myself that when I get to 60 in a few years time it truly will be the new 40.

This year for World Health Day the theme is Healthy Ageing, with the slogan – ‘good health adds life to years’ – and they calculate that within the next five years, the number of adults aged 65 and over will outnumber children under the age of 5. With statistics like this I’m thinking that retirement age will be a thing of the past, I’m not sure who said it, but the phrase “you don’t live longer, it just feels like it” springs to mind. So thinking positively and wanting to remain fit and healthy I’m going for the Mediterranean diet and all things in moderation – food – drink – exercise, a proper work life balance. No one likes being told what to do but maybe for one day this year as the world population grows older it doesn’t hurt to reflect and think about how we as individuals want to live and grow old gracefully.

To help with the decision making process sign up with the WHO for their toolkit and photo stories about some amazing people http://www.who.int/world-health-day/2012/photo_story/en/index.html

So for me it’s the garden instead of the gym, the bike instead of the car, plus a nice glass of wine with my evening meal; and watching The Zimmer’s on YouTube to inspire me that maybe one day in the future I just might get that singing contract! http://web.me.com/neilreed/thezimmersonline.com/Official_Videos.html

World Water Day 22nd March 2012

With two water companies applying a hosepipe ban in the south-east of England I turn my thoughts to importance of the need for clean water. Whether we can or cannot reduce the amount of water we use, from an infection prevention and control perspective, it’s a good time to remind ourselves of the risk of water associated infections and how to avoid them.

Water-borne diseases are those that are spread directly through contaminated water, whilst water-related diseases are those that are acquired from poor sanitation, hygiene or insects that breed in water and then spread diseases. Between 1972 and 1999 – according to the WHO – there were 39 new causes of disease discovered, including those that caused water related diseases like legionnaire’s disease. Ever noticed how these stories catch the newspaper headlines?… holiday makers being brought home from abroad… hospital outbreaks… and local stories of leisure centres being closed when water tests reveal bacterial contamination.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) does its part in focusing our attention on the importance of fresh water and how precious it is in a world of rising populations. Their annual World Water Day event http://www.unwater.org/worldwaterday/ on the 22nd March reinforces this key message and invites us all to raise our personal awareness of how much water we consume each day. Can we be part of finding a global solution to this ever increasing challenge? Can we each change our diet and reduce our water footprint? Try this quiz and see how you do http://www.unwater.org/worldwaterday/downloads/WWD2012_howmuchwater_game.pdf

Ten steps to running an awareness campaign (part 2)

Picking up where we left things on our last post, here are steps 6 to 10 for running a great awareness campaign…

Step 6

Materials production

• This can take up a large part of time and budget so make good use of existing materials wherever possible.
  • Use any existing local or national posters, leaflets and training materials.
  • Check out if there are any free give-aways left over from previous events that you could use such as pens or mouse mats.
  • Consult with your audience about other reminders they would find helpful or impactful.
  • Think if you have relatives or friends who work for a printing company or another useful organisation.
  • Ask a local printing company to produce your materials for a mention at the bottom of the materials.
  • Pull together a campaign kit (including a campaign guide and materials) for others to follow; this will keep everything consistent whilst allowing for adaptation to suit local needs.

Step 7

Messaging

• Keep messages consistent, clear and compelling.
  • Use no more than five in total.
  • To write a key message:
    - focus on two or three key pieces of information
    - summarise this information into succinct statements (key messages)
    -repeat key messages at every opportunity and across all channels (news releases, briefing presentations, web, twitter…)

• If you have more than one audience that you are targeting (for example, sponsors, peers, service users and visitors), tailor your message to fit their needs.
  • Remember that people are generally driven by desire rather than by what they need.
  • Focus your message on answering their question… ‘What’s in it for me?’!

Step 8

Implement campaign

• Divide your event or campaign into phases and consider what you need to do for each stage:
  • Pre-awareness – teasers, invitations, sponsorship, pre-event promotions.
  • Main event/campaign – leaflets, posters, training sessions, breakfast meetings, information stand, launch promotions.
  • Post-event/campaign follow-up – feedback from your stakeholders, post-event follow-up and thank you’s.

• Mix and match your campaign activities.
  • Remember AIDA and the promotional tools that are relevant to each stage; different people response to different things – the ‘blended’ approach often works best (some print, some digital and some face-to-face).
• Keep the implementation consistent and professional.
• Ensure the event/campaign is not the only string to your communication bow.
  • Promote other sources and resources where individuals can find further information. Think about websites, social media platforms, patient organisations and other departments.

Step 9

Evaluate campaign

• Collect the information that will feed into your review.
  • Using the objectives that you set at the beginning and the plans that you made, look at whether you have achieved what you set out to do.
  • Have you achieved your objectives? Were you in budget? What have you learnt?

• Ask for feedback from all participating groups; this can be formal via a feedback form, or if appropriate a more informal conversation covering:
  • Did they hear about your event/campaign in time?
  • Was the information well communicated?
  • Did it meet their needs?
  • What did you do well?
  • What could be improved?
  • How do they see their needs developing in the future?

• Plan how you could improve on the campaign next time round.
  • Draw up a list of key learnings and note them down so you remember.

• Summarise your findings for step 10 (review).
  • What were the positive outcomes of the event/campaign?
  • Gather testimonials (favourable quotes) from participants and include them on future materials – it will help new audiences see what’s in it for them.

Step 10

Review

A review is really the formal process of looking back at the awareness campaign and sharing what went well and what could have gone better (the key learnings). Reviews are useful for future campaigns, as you can collect the key learnings and develop templates for items such as invitations, so that things run more efficiently and smoothly the next time around. Learning from experience is a powerful tool and will make your next campaign even better.

Next time, understanding stakeholders (those who can make or break your success).

Ten steps to running an awareness campaign (part 1)

Once you are ready to roll with your local awareness campaign, a simple stepwise process can guide you through the important actions and potential pitfalls. From setting your objectives before you begin, through to learning from what happened at the end, a little bit of systemisation goes a long way! Try these ten steps to running an awareness campaign…

Step 1

Set objectives

So what is an objective? An objective identifies a short-term, measurable step that will be achieved within a set time period. Think about why you want to run the campaign, who you are trying to reach and what do you want to achieve. Possible objectives could be:

• Train 100% of nursing staff on hand washing by year end.
• Inform all visitors of the importance of hand washing during a summer awareness campaign.
• Increase knowledge of MRSA within the team by end 2012 by 50%.

Step 2

Plan campaign

• Choose a date (or series of dates) for your campaign and make sure these are in people’s diaries as soon as possible.
  • Avoid popular holiday weeks and months, such as school half terms, when many key people may be away at the same time.
  • Ensure it doesn’t clash with other events and consider ‘piggy-backing’ or linking with other existing campaigns.

• Decide what activities to include, how long the campaign will last, who you would like to attend the event(s).

• Consider what sort of events people will attend – a short workshop, an awareness day with an information stand, an open day, or a series of breakfast meetings.

• Put together a schedule with time and activities.
  • Give yourself deadlines to work to and stick to them – for example, draft training materials to be ready four weeks in advance, approved and sent to the printers (if necessary) three weeks in advance, first posters put up two weeks in advance.
  • Make sure everyone knows who is responsible for what.

• Plan how and when invitations should go out.
  • Give people at least four weeks’ notice, but preferably more.

• Send out a preliminary invitation and then a reminder one week before the event. Make each a different format, for example, the first an email and the second a poster.

Step 3

Gain commitment

• Obtain sponsorship from a senior member of staff.
  • Identify those people who have influence and who could lend credibility to your campaign/event. This will help give you visible support and attract your audience.

• Get together with someone else or a group of people who are interested in helping you with the campaign.
  • Meet up regularly.
  • Check your progress against the schedule.

Step 4

Gain resources

• Think through what you will need to run the campaign/event. To maximise resources, make the best use of what’s already available.
  • Consider what money you may need for advertising, training, materials and so on. Could you share resources with another department?
  • Your materials can often be the most costly component, particularly if you need to take items like posters to an external printing company. Materials can also include reminders (such as pens, mouse mats and stickers).

• Put together a proposal and costing beforehand if you don’t have your own budget. You may need this to get senior management on side.
  • Think about how you might raise funds if budget is unavailable.

Step 5

Media and mediums

• Plan how you are going to publicise the campaign/event. Where and how will your promotions reach the largest number of relevant people and have the biggest impact?
  • What media will you use? Consider: web, email, notice boards, internal post, intranet, staff meetings. Are there existing media that you can ‘piggy back’?
  • Introduce yourself to the Editor of any existing internal media (newsletters, magazines, bulletins, forums) who could spread the word about your campaign.
  • Do you have any contacts with an affiliated society/patient organisation who might be willing to lend their name to a campaign?

• Think about your promotional mix.
  • Think through the right things to do rather than trying to do everything. Are you trying to raise awareness, stimulate interest and desire, or give your audience a call to action? Which methods are most appropriate? Have another look at the earlier blog postings on ‘AIDA and the promotional mix’.
  • What incentives could you use to get your audience to act? How could your senior sponsor influence actions and outcomes?

These five steps will get you started… Next time, the remaining five steps to running a successful awareness campaign.

Mixing up promotions for maximum results

Marketers talk about the right ‘promotional mix’. This simply means finding the right combination of promotional methods to get your message across and achieve the outcome you desire. Once you understand the basics of the AIDA model, you can start to think about how you might effectively use it in raising awareness with your audience.

Today, we are flooded with communication options so it’s important to understand your audience and how to reach them. Before you decide upon your promotional mix spend some time researching where people meet (physically or virtually), what they like – and also – what they don’t. Can you remember a great campaign or event that got people talking? Why was it such a success? Great communicators learn from past experiences, observe their audience and ask the right questions when they don’t know the answers. ‘Know thy audience’ is a simple mantra and the foundation to success.

No 21st century communication plan would be complete without dipping your toe into the vast and ever growing world of social media. The social media environment opens up new horizons for sharing information – with a couple of words of caution. Firstly, and critically, remember that social media platforms are public. Do not choose these platforms to communicate confidential, inappropriate or sensitive information. Always check your organisation’s social media policy before committing information to the ether. Secondly, be sure your audience is present. Technology has become part of people’s lives but it’s wrong to assume that this is a universal trend – or that everyone visits the same on-line spaces. Again, research some basics before you begin:

1. Is your audience technology-friendly?
2. What platform/s are they using – web, mobiles, tablets…?
3. Where are they meeting – Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube…?
4. How do they use technology?
   1. For leisure?
   2. For work?
   3. For study?
5. How are they interacting with technology?
   1. Sourcing information?
   2. Joining discussions?
   3. Sharing ideas?
   4. Adapting/creating content?

Once you understand more about the habits and preferences of your audience, and how you can use both traditional routes and technologies to reach them, then you’re ready to make decisions about the right promotional mix. A simple method here is to use AIDA as a framework as different approaches work better at different stages.

It’s all about getting the right mix! Next time, ten steps to running an awareness campaign.

Making the jump from awareness to action

I = Interest

There are few things worse than getting your audience’s attention only for them then to find that the information has no value, or is boring. Alternatively, if the message has hit the spot, then they’ll want to hear more.

There are several ways to excite interest. Promising an incentive, such as lunch or an entry into a raffle, will draw some people into an event. Using curiosity tactics is another powerful method of gaining interest as on the whole human beings are naturally curious. When we see something strange or out of the ordinary, our ‘curiosity button’ is triggered. For example, compare, ‘How do you stop this year’s winter’s tale turning into a never-ending story?’ supported with the campaign poster below, versus an ‘Attend our norovirus update’ email. Which would you notice? Which do you prefer? How could you use a similar idea?

This tactic is linked with another approach well-worn by communicators… building anticipation. Communication professionals use this strategy because it works! In the run up to an event or an awareness campaign, you can use ‘teasers’ to create curiosity and anticipation in the minds of your audience. Giving a series of bite-sized chunks of information is not only easier to digest for your audience, it means that one piece of communication is not carrying the whole burden of raising awareness. You simply build it up step-by-step.

Key points:

• Ensure the information you provide is interesting.
• Use incentives to draw your audience’s attention.
• Push curiosity buttons.
• Use teasers.

D = Desire

People are often driven by desire rather than what they actually need. So creating interest and desire is inseparable. The thing that most people think about is ‘What’s in it for me?’. Whatever the campaign, your messaging must focus on fulfilling the needs of the audience. People will buy a message from you and listen to what you have to say when they see a personal benefit. It is this benefit that is most valuable to them and is something you can use to increase the number of people you reach with your message.

So what is a benefit? For your audience, it’s the ‘so what?’ Tell them “This seminar will enable your team to reduce MRSA risks to patients” not “This seminar will provide you with information on MRSA”. Another way to think of it is this: how is what you’re telling your audience addressing their problems or concerns?

There are some key steps to creating desire:

Key points:

• State the benefits to your audience.
• How are you addressing your audience’s problems or concerns?

A = Action

So on to the final step that tells you loud and clear if your message has landed – action! There needs to be an incentive or a reason for people to respond to your message now, or at least very soon. You can use a ‘call to action’ (a written instruction which tells someone what to do next) to motivate your audience to take a positive step towards what you’re asking them to do. Tell them what they should do and why they should do it. An example of a call to action would be, ‘Prevent the spread of Norovirus. Wash your hands!’, also, consider demanding immediate action from them by using action phrases like: ‘Email now’… ‘Share now’… ‘Sign up now’. To create a sense of urgency, give a deadline and communicate that there are limited spaces available at an important event. If it’s important, make it sound urgent and motivate people to respond immediately – otherwise they could miss out on something they desire – a discount, a free gift, a right to reply or something critical to support them front line in their job. To get a great outcome you need to know what people want so all action is grounded in a little reflection and evidence gathering. Next time, mixing up promotions for maximum results.

Key points:

• Incentivise your audience to respond.
• Give them a clear ‘call to action’ – what do you want them to do next?

From best-kept secret to best-known mantra

Welcome to Healthcare A2Z’s new prevention and promotion in action blog. As part of our day-to-day duties, more and more of us are now required to train other members of staff on high-profile health issues, and communicate key public health messages to patient, clients and the public. Often, we simply don’t have the time, or perhaps skills to deliver these training or communication activities with confidence.

This new blog series aims to provide you with practical guidance and tips on how to implement local awareness-building campaigns. We hope a little theory, coupled with some creative ideas, will help you to deliver age-old messages in a new and engaging way so people remember and act on them. We’ll share our knowledge and experience in bite-size chunks over the coming weeks, and as in all educational processes, we begin with a little theory first… it’s all about AIDA!

Firstly, you should know that AIDA isn’t an Ethiopian princess in a Verdi opera! It is in fact an acronym for Awareness, Interest, Desire and Action. AIDA is a model or framework used in creating powerful and effective communications – it shows the steps you should lead your audience through when promoting a message:

In short, there is no sense in having exciting and interesting leaflets or posters that raise awareness and attract the attention of your audience if you can’t capture their interest when they come to read the detail or attend your awareness event. And that interest must be strong enough to grow into desire or you’ll get no action.

A = Awareness

Your audience is used to seeing information everywhere, all the time. We only have a limited capacity for processing what’s around us, and that’s why people are drawn in by communications that are visually engaging, offer a powerful benefit, or deliver an impactful message. The impact needs to be instant as raising awareness is about breaking through the noise. Know your audience and what will and won’t work with them – have some fun but also treat content with respect. There are times to flex your creative muscles and others times when simple, clear, information is what is really needed.

To get a message through, we need to bypass people’s mental filters to gain their full attention. And you do this by understanding their desires and emotions, and then clearly offering to fulfil their needs (even if they didn’t know they had them!). Sounds easy enough (well sort of), but how do you actually go about doing that? There are some practical strategies that will help you. The first thing is to really grab their attention with some eye-catching visuals or graphics and a headline – you’ve got just a few seconds to spark their interest and motivate them to keep reading, whether they’re looking at your poster, your leaflet or your invitation. Consider, for example, the difference between ‘A lecture on scabies’ and ‘Don’t let those mites get under your skin!’

Changing the perception of your audience is key. It can be hard to change people’s minds. They may think that they already know everything there is to know about an issue, or they may be holding onto incorrect information about a topic – thanks to our media rich age untruths often reign. Re-educating your audience is one of the most important ways of changing their perception. And the first step is making people aware of the real issues and separating the fact from the fiction. Keep your message consistent and your facts evidence-based from a trusted source, to give your audience a reason to listen to what you’re saying.

Once you have started building the knowledge you need to share, you can think about fostering communication networks to transfer this information. This might be informal groups, staff meetings or social media networks. It could mean adding a few pages to your intranet or website, writing a blog, compiling a newsletter, creating real or virtual notice boards, or developing your own awareness materials. You could add a signature at the bottom of your email messages with key information that you want to convey. Look for communication opportunities and networks where people can share ideas and experiences – raising awareness is all about spreading the word!  Next time, ‘Making the jump from awareness to action’

Key points:

• Keep your message consistent.
• Use a trusted source as your evidence (a peer, an expert, or even yourself).
• Ensure information is fact-based.
• Pull everything together with attention-grabbing visuals and headlines.
• Foster communication networks to share the knowledge.