Engaging Media to Help Promote Arthritis Public Health Messages

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Engaging Media to Help Promote Arthritis
Public Health Messages

• Teresa Brady, Lee Ann Ramsey
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• Kim Sammons, Kristina Heuman
• Porter Novelli

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Background

• Arthritis
• Affects 46 million Americans
• Is the most common cause of disability
• 19 million report arthritis associated activity
  limitations
• 8.8 million working age adults report arthritis
  associated work limitations
• Is expensive 128 Billion annually

MMWR 2006 55 1089-1192 MMWR 2007 56 55
ACR 2007 57355-263
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Our Perceived Problem

• Media coverage of arthritis is limited
• Coverage rarely includes our public health
  messages
• Learn techniques to manage your disease
• Be active
• Control your weight
• See your doctor for early diagnosis and
  appropriate treatment (inflammatory arthritis)

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Our Perceived Problem

• Media coverage of arthritis is limited
• 2004-2006 media scan arthritis received
  approximately 1/3 the coverage of diabetes and
  heart disease
• Coverage rarely includes our public health
  messages
• Content analysis of coverage
• 44 pharmaceutical treatment
• 31 diet or weight control
• 22 consult doctor
• 20 exercise

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Our Catalysts

• Missed opportunities FDA recall of Vioxx
• Pharma focused articles have half as many
  mentions of public health messages as do general
  arthritis stories
• Media value of pharma stories nearly twice as
  high as general arthritis stories
• Demonstrated lack of interest
• Deafening silence of MMWR release

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Our Solution

• Need to position our messages in ways that
  attract the media
• Use market research (with media as a target
  audience) to understand their perspective
• Convene roundtable discussion to gather
  perceptions from key media opinion leaders

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Plan for Presentation

• Describe processes used to convene and conduct
  the roundtable discussion
• List key insights on challenges of public health
  messages (general chronic disease and
  arthritis-specific)
• Discuss next steps in shaping public health
  messages to garner media attention

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Participants

• 6 Health and Lifestyle Media
• Time
• Good Housekeeping
• Essence
• Better Health and Living
• Health Day (wire service)
• WebMD
• 2 reporters interested but said company policy
  would not allow them to attend
• Wall Street Journal, New York Times

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Roundtable Logistics

• Invited media to Executive Media Workgroup on
  Public Health
• To provide insights on how to change the dialogue
  around critical public health issues
• Explored need for incentives
• Not necessary
• Held in hotel conference room in New York City
• Provided breakfast and covered travel expenses
• Formal thank you from NCCDPHP Director

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Roundtable Format

• 30 minute presentations on urgent realities of
  chronic disease generally and arthritis
  specifically
• 90 minute semi-structured discussion between
  media and CDC experts
• CDC experts had factoids to sprinkle into
  discussion
• Concluded with summary and invitation for media
  to tell CDC what we could do to make their jobs
  easier

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Roundtable Presentations

• Situational Overview
• Macro level urgent realities of chronic disease
  and call to action
• Macro level arthritis specific issues and call to
  action
• Arthritis specific quality of life data and
  personal impact
• Arthritis patient perspective

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Roundtable Discussion Questions

• Consumer perceptions of chronic disease
• killer diseases vs. quality of life issues
• Motivating consumer behavior change
• News trends
• Media motivators in selecting stories
• Consumer/media perceptions of arthritis

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Key Media Insights
it seems almost insurmountable to get Americans
to change they way they eat and the way they
exercise.

• Americans
• Are complacent about their health
• Want magic bullets, quick easy solutions that get
  results

They think they can drink a glass of wine and
cure something.
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Key Media Insights

• Media
• Attention captured by urgent threats, not urgent
  realities
• Health reporters also frustrated with Americans
  lack of engagement around health

With prevention messages theres no dearth of
information part of the problem is that there
is almost too much information the challenge
facing you is getting them to act on it.
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Key Media Insights

• Sexy grabs consumer attention
• Sexy scary
• New or unique

You have to die tomorrow.
You are kind of shocked could I get this?
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Key Media Insights

• Prevention is a tough sell
• Rarely offer anything new
• Eat right, exercise have become white noise
• Repetition makes message lose potency
• Need new creative examples to break through the
  white noise

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It makes me cringe when I hear it, its always
the same thing its park farther away from the
grocery storeget off the bus a stop early.
You also have the question of editors who are
weighing in on your copy, who are really driven
by one question, which is whats new or can
anything be done?
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Key Media Insights

• Personal success stories (it worked for me)
  work
• Consumers eager for back to basics or natural
  and non-pharmaceutical remedies
• Every story needs a news hook
• But if it is new to media, its news

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Key Media Insights-Arthritis

• Media sees arthritis as nuisance to be tolerated

With arthritis, I think people think, Well,
eventually, one day I will get it and Ill just
have to suffer, kind of suck it up.
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Key Media Insights-Arthritis

• Media sees arthritis as nuisance to be tolerated
• Sheer number of people affected, and impact of
  pain can make it a significant story
• Increase sex appeal by focusing on threat to
  quality of life
• Can also embed arthritis messages in other
  stories

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With arthritis they wont be as independent as
they are accustomed to beingwhich I think is a
huge, huge important message.
Position arthritis as something that can really
change the way you live your life
When you are doing a story on heart disease or
diabetes, where you might say, and many people
who also have arthritis feel they cant exercise.
Not true.
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Key Media Insights-Arthritis

• Media unaware of but interested in arthritis
  intervention programs

My ears perked up when I heard you talk about
the programsif there is something easy to
access thats new to the mix, I think it might
be helpful
We know its not new, but as a potentially new
way to deal with arthritis I think it would be
of great interest to people.
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Arthritis Program Follow-Up Actions

• Have used consultants to position MMWR press
  releases
• Lead with news
• Data lite
• Put in personal terms
• Cultivating relationships with reporters in
  attendance
• WebMD Blog accompanied MMWR data release
• Cultivating long lead media

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A few ah-has

• Public health messages not new, sexy or magic
  bullet
• but we do have natural remedies
• Public health practitioners have relied on
  scientific data to influence media and consumers
• but testimonials/ personal success stories may
  have more impact
• We need new angles and new creative examples of
  health behaviors to break through white noise

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A few cautions

• These national media (health and lifestyle
  reporters) said they were not interested in
  public policy issues
• But this might be relevant to local media
• Media response to celebrity testimonials was
  mixed
• Some intrigued by celebrity involvement
• Others thought it could backfire
• Paid celebrities particularly problematic

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Media Reactions to Roundtable

• Half asked if CDC would be having more
  roundtables
• All appreciated being asked to participate
• Enjoyed dialogue with public health experts
• Half asked for additional information on
  arthritis interventions
• Want webpage that puts data in laymans terms
• Would like to pursue closer collaboration between
  CDC and WebMD

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Next Steps

• Finalize message platforms
• Spokesperson media training
• Develop virtual media kit
• Evaluate media relations needs in SHD
• Targeted media monitoring
• Selective proactive media outreach

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Contact Info

• Teresa J. Brady, PhD
• Senior Behavioral Scientist
• Arthritis Program
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• tob9_at_ cdc.gov
• 770-488-5856