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How Nine Counties are Working Together to Promote One Message

OPHA WebinarThursday, July 18, 2013

Annette Hoyles, BSc Melissa Knowler, RN BScNPublic Health Promoter Public Health NurseChair, SW LRADG Working Group Member, SW LRADG Working GroupPerth District Health Unit Middlesex-London Health UnitStratford, Ontario London, Ontario

Presentation Overview• Background• Planning• Campaign audiences, objectives, and activities• Media strategy• Budget• Successes• Lessons learned / Challenges• Next steps

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Background• Culture of drinking in Canada

– normal, expected and celebratory

• Alcohol is the 2nd largest risk factor for disease, disability & death in high income countries (WHO)

• Alcohol responsible for 2.5 million deaths/year worldwide

• In Canada:– Total direct and indirect costs related to alcohol = $14.6

billion/year (2002)– FASD costs an additional $5.3 billion/year (2009)

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Background (con’t)• The Monitor (ON) - Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) -

2009– Adult Past Year Consumption Rate - 79%– Hazardous/Harmful Drinking - 17% – Exceeding Low Risk Drinking Guidelines (LRDG) - 27%

• Ontario Student Drug Use and Health Survey - (CAMH) 2011 – Youth (grade 12) consumption rate - 78%– Binge Drinking – 40%– Hazardous/Harmful Drinking – 30%

• Women’s rates of consumption and harm are climbing and beginning to reach their male counterparts – especially in the youth population

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Why a Collaborative Project?

Nine health units, one goal:– Collective mandate to fulfill the newly-introduced

provincial LRADG Accountability Agreements created the impetus to work together (also Ontario Public Health Standards in IP/SM and CDP)

– SW IP managers identified advantages of working together as a region

– SW staff have existing relationship through the CW-SW Substance Misuse Prevention Network

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What are the LRADGs and AAs?• Canadian Low Risk Alcohol Drinking Guidelines (LRADG)

– Released November 2011– Intended for adults aged 25-65 years – Provide information on how to reduce the risk of alcohol-related harms in both

the short and long term.– More information available at www.ccsa.ca

• Accountability Agreements (AAs)– Part of a comprehensive public health performance management system– Emphasis on tracking outcomes, rather than compliance with processes– All Ontario public health units have the same indicator

• Percentage (%) of population that exceeds the LRADG– However outcome goals are individualized based on local data

• e.g. Perth – 4% reduction by end of 2014– Data source: Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS)

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Health Units Participating in Campaign

1. Grey-Bruce Health Unit2. Huron County Health Unit3. Perth District Health Unit4. Oxford County Public Health5. Middlesex-London Health Unit6. Elgin-St. Thomas Health Unit7. Chatham-Kent Public Health Unit8. County of Lambton Community Hlth Services Dept. 9. Windsor-Essex County Health Unit

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Planning• Managers and staff met in March 2012 to discuss

a regional coordinated strategy. • Would be beneficial due to tight timelines and

limited resources.• Staff drafted a regional plan using THCU’s Online

Health Program Planner as a guide.• This was a challenging step due to:

– 9 health units– 9 managers with 9 staff– 9 (often differing) local priorities & philosophies.

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Why “RYD”?

• Wanted overall campaign to focus on reduction, not necessarily abstinence.

• Encourages audience to make informed choices when it comes to their alcohol consumption.

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Target AudiencesPrimary:

– Men and women, age 25-44 years

Secondary:– General population

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ObjectivesTo increase awareness/education of:1. LRADGs including its components (e.g. standard

drink size).2. Female-specific health risks related to alcohol

consumption.3. Link between alcohol consumption and short-

term health risks.4. Link between alcohol consumption and long-

term health risks (i.e. chronic diseases).

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Activities

1. Common messages2. Shared website3. Promotional items4. Media strategy

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Common Messages• Communications Dept. at Windsor-Essex

County Health Unit provided communications and graphic support in-kind to the project.

• Staff worked with WECHU to develop topics, taglines, and visuals for the campaign.

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Topic Tagline

Standard drink sizes SIZE MATTERS

Drinks per day, per weekTime between drinks TIME MATTERS

Female-specific alcohol risks SEX MATTERS

Injury and alcohol CHOICE MATTERS

Chronic diseases and alcohol EVERYTHING MATTERS

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Shared Website• Much discussion on shared website vs. directing

audience to individual health unit websites.• Critical turning point to have shared website and

one location for campaign messages/content• Shared website was feasible due to partnership

with SW Tobacco Control Area Network (TCAN)– Yola online platform provided user-friendly website

creation (very low cost)

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Promotional Items• 5 poster series with URL and QR code

– Accompanying factsheets (on website)

• Beverage wrenches (aka bottle openers)

• Pull-up banner displays

• Napkins (2014?)

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SIZE MATTERSReleased May 2013

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TIME MATTERSRelease date: August 2013

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SEX MATTERSRelease date: November 2013

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CHOICE MATTERSRelease date: February 2014

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EVERYTHING MATTERSRelease date: May 2014

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Beverage Wrench

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Pull-up Banner Displays

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Media StrategyRegional:

– Promotional e-mails• Alcohol Policy Network listserv• OPHE e-bulletin• CW-SW Substance Misuse Prevention Network• IP Managers Alliance• CCSA

– Video: Understanding Canada’s LRADG• Produced and paid for by MLHU• Also included as part of RYD campaign• Over 2,450 views on YouTube

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Media Strategy (con’t)Local:

– Each health unit decided on a local implementation plan which may have included:• Media release• Radio ads• Pour Challenge• Workplace promotions• Viral e-mails• Promo item distribution• Individual websites• Social media (Twitter, Facebook)• Local media buys

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Budget• Each health unit contributed approximately

$1,000 towards a regional “pot” (paid for stock photo purchases, group poster buy, group display buy, beverage wrenches, website).

• Total budget = $8,200• In-kind: graphic support (WECHU) and staff time• Local promotions were to be paid by each health

unit.• 2014 - TBD

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Successes1. Website traffic

Google Analytics (results for May 13-July 13, 2013) • Unique visits = 3,244• Page views = 10,760• Pages per visit = 2.85• Average visit duration = 1 min, 43 sec• Mobile/Tablet = 630

2. Positive feedback on beverage wrenches, posters, and display.

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Successes (con’t)3. Collaboration

– Pooling staff resources, financial resources, and skills (e.g. graphic support from Windsor)

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Lessons Learned/Challenges• “The Challenge of 9”

• 9 health units, 9 managers, 9 staff, 9 philosophies, etc.• Communication

• Staff to staff• Staff to managers• Staff to third party support (e.g. graphic design)

• Adequate time to plan is essential• Result can be a “less than perfect” plan

• Varying policies can create roadblocks • Social media, website, and messaging

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Next Steps• Continue staggered release of messages/posters• Continue promotion via website and promotional

items• Evaluation

– Possible partnership with SW evaluators• Sharing of campaign messages/deliverables

– Working on requirements for using/reproducing materials– A lot of interest from other Ontario health units– Provincial LRDG working group presentation in June 2013 –

possible expansion of the program

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Contact Info

Annette HoylesPublic Health PromoterPerth District Health UnitStratford, OntarioPhone: 519-271-7600 ext 287E-mail: ahoyles@pdhu.on.ca

Melissa KnowlerPublic Health NurseMiddlesex-London Health UnitLondon, OntarioPhone: 519-663-5317 ext 2252E-mail: melissa.knowler@mlhu.on.ca

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