Together for Health

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Constanta-Louisville Healthy Communities
Partnership

• Constanta Health Promotion and Health
• Education Department
• Humana Foundation
• University of Louisville
• Louisville-Jefferson County Health
• Department
• American International Health Alliance

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Advantages (I)

• Can reach a large population
• Can promote health messages frequently
• Can offer accurate and timely health information
• Can influence adaptation of new behaviors

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Advantages (II)

• Can offer opinions of important stakeholders
  aimed at behavior change
• Can offer information about access to medical
  services
• Can reinforce health messages transmitted by
  other media
• Can promote and support new social norms

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Obstacles

• Limited distribution to rural areas
• Difficulty adapting to audiences with special
  needs
• Timing of broadcast sometimes does not reach
  intended audience
• Difficulty obtaining feed-back
• Costs?
• Importance of verifying health data and facts

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Mobilization Methods

• Send news releases and hold press conferences to
  announce major events
• Formation of Healthy Communities Partnership
• Arrival of American partners
• Signing of Memo of Understanding
• SWOT analysis
• Survey and focus group results
• Launch of health programs
• Training program events
• End-of-project conference

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More Mobilization Methods

• Invite media to participate in all health events
• Prepare public service announcements for TV
• and radio
• Prepare news bulletins
• Write frequent articles in local newspapers
• Broadcast weekly on local radio and TV
• Include media representatives on health
• promotion team

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Steps for Planning a TV Show about Health
Education

• 1. Identify the health problem
• 2. Identify the target audience
• 3. Select the behavior needed to be reinforced or
  changed
• 4. Invite influential and well-respected guests
• 5. Prepare useful information about the health
  problem for publics comprehension

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1. Identify the health problem

• Why address this specific problem?
• Who is affected by this health problem?
• What are the causes of the problem?
• What are the beliefs, attitudes and behaviors
  influencing the problem?
• What are possible solutions to the problem?

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2. Identify the target audience

• Who is most frequently affected by this health
  problem?
• Who is most easily influenced by TV
  intervention (primary target audience)?
• Who can help target audience practice healthy
  behaviors (primary, secondary and tertiary
  target audiences)?

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3. Select the behavior needed to be reinforced or
changed

• What are the desired behaviors to be adopted?
• What are the actual behaviors?
• What current behaviors should be reinforced?

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4. Invite influential and well-respected guests

• Health experts
• City officials
• International consultants
• High-profile individuals
• (sports figures, actors, diplomats, politicians)

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5. Prepare useful information about the health
problem for publics comprehension

• Use simple, easy-to-understand language
• Communicate consistent messages

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A TV health talk show
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Examples of newspaper articles related to Healthy
Communities Programs

• Living in Safety
• The Right to Live in Safety
• A Hope Center for Women
• Who Is the Strongest ?
• Who Are You ?
• The Level of STIs is Increasing
• And You Can Have an STI
• Healthy Newborns from Healthy Mothers

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The Playboy Scandal
The April 2000 issue of Playboy Romania featured
an article How to Beat Your Wife Without
Leaving Marks. Our response to that article is
an example of coordinated international
response to controversy in the media.
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The Playboy Scandal (continued)

• Types of response
• Television interviews on local and national news
  in
• Romania and the U.S.A.
• Letters of protest from the Healthy Communities
  team in
• Constanta, Humana Inc., AIHA, USAID,
  International
• Womens Media Foundation
• Protest march in Bucharest outside office of
  Playboy Romania

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The Playboy Scandal (continued)

• Positive Results
• Office for Women in Constanta received 5,000
  grant
• from the Playboy Foundation
• Playboy issued a formal apology in the media and
  in their
• magazine
• Partnership presented a united front of various
  agencies
• and concerned citizens
• Created greater public awareness that domestic
  violence
• is not a laughing matter

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Campaign Slogans
Domestic Violence Program
Living in Safety
Sexually-Transmitted Infections Program
Protect yourself !
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Keys to Maximizing the Impact of the Media

• Reinforce slogans and consistent messages often
• and through multiple means
• Provide constructive and easy-to-understand
• information regarding available services and
  assistance
• Stress the problem as a community problem that
• requires a community solution

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Thank you for your attention !