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Volume 18, Issue 1 Communications
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Your Health Department’s Brand and Why It Matters Many Partners, One Voice: How Snohomish County is Using a Coordinated Approach to Tackle the Opioid Epidemic “Don’t Bug Me”: How to Teach an Old Flu Bug New Tricks
Prioritizing Health Literacy and Cultural Competency as Key Components of Health Equity
Public Health Communications: Responsive, Adaptable, and Ready to Lead
By Andrea Grenadier, Communications Specialist, and Kim Rodgers, MA, Communications Manager, NACCHO
There are as many ways to effectively manage public health communications as there are communicators in public health. Sharing information effectively to improve the quality of life for individuals, communities, and populations is an immense task, both rewarding and vital, and can often serve as a critical link between crisis and safety in both day-to-day and risk communications. The current state of the field is one that is always moving, advancing, testing, analyzing, and refining what works. Adding to that, public health communicators are also thinking about their brand, how to cut through the noise of too many competing messages, the value they bring to peoples’ lives, how to reach more people, and the best way to do that. In the spirit of continuous improvement, NACCHO has undertaken efforts to better understand local health departments’ communications capacity, capabilities, and preferences. Through this work—notably for the 2017 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)-funded program Strengthening the Health Communication Capacity of U.S. Local Public Health Officials—we found that, at most local health departments, communications activities are sometimes managed by staff whose primary duties are not communications-focused. As a result, the people communicating often do not have enough bandwidth, training, or capacity for evaluation.
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“As inaccurate health information can proliferate quickly on social media, it is all the more urgent that public health departments provide correct facts and data in ways that are both credible and actionable to keep communities healthy.”
First, the Good News In this year-long initiative, NACCHO, the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO), and the National Public Health Information Coalition (NPHIC) analyzed the current public health communication landscape and reported on key findings and insights. The goal of the project was to identify opportunities to help strengthen the U.S. public health system by supporting a network of state, territorial, local, and tribal public health officials in their efforts to effectively communicate information across the governmental public health enterprise. The report’s outcomes offer a picture of how the nation’s public health information officers and state and local health officials communicate health information, and a few keys to change: identifying where there are gaps in training and capacity and providing opportunities for growth in public health communications. As part of the project’s deliverables, NACCHO developed four training webinars and created a community of practice comprising health department public information officers (PIOs) to share best practices and facilitate peer-topeer learning. The webinars focused on evaluating the efficacy of communications initiatives; establishing and managing a digital presence; and how to effectively tell local public health stories. The surveys found several positive results: r At least two-thirds of local public health departments have public information, emergency communications, media relations, and risk communications capacity. r More than half have the capacity to engage in digital communications activities. r Most local health departments collaborate with the “right” partners in crisis and emergency situations. r Three-fourths of local health departments agree that communications activities are a high priority. r Nearly 90% of local health departments reported that the staff supporting
communications activities were trained to do so. r About half of local health departments engage in in-house social and traditional marketing activities. Having a robust infrastructure for public health communication is critical, given the emerging public health threats—such as vector-borne diseases, the opioid epidemic, and natural disasters—that result in rapid requests for information and guidance. The public sees health departments and government agencies as trusted agents for providing timely, reliable information that has an impact on their health and the health of their communities. With new digital platforms and other channels changing the communications landscape, public health leaders must be adaptable and knowledgeable about the many mechanisms used to reach different audiences. In particular, social media has changed the communications terrain. As inaccurate health information can proliferate quickly on social media, it is all the more urgent that public health departments provide correct facts and data in ways that are both credible and actionable to keep communities healthy. The Work Before Us The survey also identified an abundance of opportunities to enhance the work of local public health communicators: r Local health departments identified marketing, social media, website management, and brand management as priority areas for improvement and would benefit from tools, resources, and trainings that could expand capabilities in those areas. r One-third of local health departments do not have graphic design capabilities, so developing new and promoting existing customizable CDC graphics would be helpful. r Local health departments are committed to collaborative emergency and risk communications, but should explore opportunities to engage non-traditional partners (e.g., utility companies) in advance of a natural disaster. continued on page 3
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Public Health Communications: Responsive, Adaptable, and Ready to Lead continued from page 2
r More than half of local health departments do not evaluate the efficacy of their communications. Project partners recommend filling this gap by developing scalable evaluation plans, tools, trainings, templates. Tools of the Trade How can we communicate more effectively, in ways that lead to action? We begin by establishing trust and credibility. In order to receive and act on information effectively, especially during unanticipated events, people need to feel like the source of their information is credible and trustworthy. We can increase trust by providing timely and accurate information; inviting questions from and encouraging dialogue with community members; and remaining transparent about the “good” and “bad” of what we know, and about any uncertainty that still exists. We adopt a health-in-all-policies approach. It’s important that health be considered in decision-making across government, even in agencies that do not seem explicitly tied to health. One way to do this is to consider how health departments can partner with other government agencies whose work could have public health implications. For example, say Washington, DC’s Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs is called in to investigate a
housing code violation at a multi-tenant property and notices a housing issue that is also a public health concern. Despite their agency’s focus on ensuring the violation is brought up to code, they should also be equipped to at least identify that there are implications for public health and link the tenants in the building to health department resources. Create pre-drafted materials and templates. Speed and accuracy are important factors in risk communication; the earlier people know there is a risk, the more time they have to act. The coordinated development of materials, including messaging guides, canned content for different platforms, and customizable fact sheets and presentations, effectively help to (1) cut down the time between when a risk becomes apparent and when we notify people; and (2) align core messages so that every level of government is reinforcing similar information and encouraging similar courses of action. Evaluating Risk for More Responsive Communications How can we as communicators better understand the public’s response to risks? To understand the public’s response, evaluating risk communication efforts is the obvious answer. Local public health communicators can continued on page 4
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Join the Community NACCHO welcomes local health department communicators to its new Community of Practice on the social networking platform, Honey. This is a flexible, easy-touse collaborative home where state and local public health communicators can continue to access resources, share information, and collaborate. For information on how to join this robust online peer community, e-mail Kimberly Rodgers at krodgers@naccho.org to set up your free user account.
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evaluate their communications efforts by directly reaching out to community members (e.g., surveys, community forums, etc.), by tracking changes in the volume of calls or online reports of issues, or through social media monitoring. However, capacity and resources for evaluation are always a challenge, especially at the local level. In our Strengthening Communications Capacity project, we found that more than half of the local health departments we surveyed (n=126, 17.2% response rate) do not evaluate the efficacy of their communications. This is partially due to limited bandwidth, but is also a result of, again, not having sufficient training in how to evaluate communications efforts. Increasing Public Awareness for Public Health Even with fewer tools to evaluate effectiveness, we can ensure all partners have a seat at the table from the very beginning, so that decisions about messaging and outreach can be made with the perspectives of everyone in mind, especially diverse populations and communities. We should also be thinking about how to work with local media more and regularly to establish ourselves as trusted providers of information and resources. For example, as media outlets continue to cover natural disasters, including flooding and extreme weather, local health departments could be pitching bulleted lists of environmental health concerns related to hurricanes, as well tips sheets on how to properly prepare. When it comes to serving diverse communities, we cannot underestimate the importance of using messengers that reflect the identities of our audiences and creating culturally competent messages that resonate with your audience’s values. Reaching Diverse Communities by Meeting People Where They Live Communicating risk, as well as dayto-day issues, more effectively to diverse, low-income, and vulnerable communities begins with understanding the importance of using messengers that reflect the identities of your
audience, and crafting targeted, culturally competent messages that resonate with your audience’s values. Our messengers— whether they are a person from our organization or a “persona” we create via stock photos and imagery—should look like the people with whom we are communicating. An even better (yet somewhat more complicated) approach is to take it a step further and recruit community members to serve as liaisons between the agency and the public. This Exchange issue focuses on local health departments’ recent efforts in advancing effective, replicable communications efforts. Among other features, you will read about how Harford County, Maryland—a relatively small health department—is prioritizing health literacy and cultural competency to turn its organizational vision into a reality; Cobb and Douglas County, Georgia’s approach to enhancing staff morale by implementing an innovative internal communications strategy; and Ottawa County, Michigan’s journey of branding and reshaping its identity. No matter the size or capacity of your health department, we hope that you will find new ideas and inspiring strategies to help you communicate more effectively with your communities. For more information, e-mail Andrea Grenadier at agrenadier@naccho.org.
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Your Health Department’s Brand and Why It Matters
By Kristina Wieghmink, M.Ed., Communications Specialist, Ottawa County Department of Public Health, Holland, MI
The Ottawa County Department of Public Health (OCDPH) in Holland, Michigan embarked on the journey of forming and branding its identity in March 2013. Prior to that, the department was referred to by various names, e.g., County of Ottawa Public Health, Ottawa County Health Department. This created a problem both internally among staff members and externally when engaging with stakeholders, community leaders, and the residents served by the health department. A local health department’s brand intentionally shapes the organization’s identity; without it, people may misunderstand or minimize the role of public health in their community. A brand is more than a name, logo, social media post, or printed brochure. It is a visual and verbal expression of an organization, strategically developed to maximize visibility and shape public perception. A brand conveys an organization’s culture (the people and their values), its services (what the organization does), its vision and mission (where the organizations is going), and why the organization matters. A brand is about creating an experience. More directly, it’s the public’s first impression of an organization. A strong brand sends a powerful message, has a clear call to action, and maximizes visibility. It engages people and communities by telling compelling stories about why public health exists and why people should care. As a result, a local health department strengthens its credibility, increases public trust, and effectively makes change. If a health department does not intentionally form its identity, others will do it, instead. With proper branding, communities will recognize their health department— what it does, why it matters, and how the health department makes a difference in their lives. continued on page 6
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“[A brand] is a visual and verbal expression of an organization, strategically developed to maximize visibility and shape public perception.”
The Process The branding process starts with a health department’s vision, mission, and values. The health department’s strategic plan is the foundation for building a brand and creating brand awareness. To begin the branding journey, it was important for OCDPH’s leadership team to recognize and support the importance of branding. Approaching the process with a unified front provided focus, clarity, and energy. It also helps to shape a department’s culture, builds recognition, strengthens community partnerships, and potentially increases funding and policymaking opportunities. Next, OCDPH moved into the research phase. This involved digging deeper and looking at the organization’s personality. Questions were asked about OCDPH’s purpose; its culture; how its actions and attitudes align with its vision, mission, and values; what sets it apart from other organizations in the community; how it engages the community; why staff members go to work; who it serves; what its stakeholders’ needs are; what the public’s perception is; and how OCDPH makes a difference in the community. Research also involved examining strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, in addition to gaining clarity on what data guided decisionmaking and what OCDPH leadership wanted to accomplish. Brand Development Upon completing the research phase, OCDPH started to develop its brand. The first step was establishing a name that was to be used consistently without the variations used previously. Next, OCDPH developed a logo. This involved careful and intentional selection of color, font style, and size, as well as deciding if iconography was to be used. Further into this phase, OCDPH crafted its messaging using action verbs. An effective message guides people towards understanding an issue. It is influential and moves people to urgently respond while helping to avoid unnecessary costs and potential hazards. These elements were collected into brand guidelines for ease of access and use.
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Finally, the new OCDPH brand was brought before the Ottawa County Health and Human Services Committee and county administrator for approval in May 2013. The committee agreed to proceed with the branding proposal and added it to the Board of Commissioners’ June session agenda. The board approved it, and OCDPH was then ready to roll out its brand. While the branding approval went through the layers of local government in less than five months, OCDPH recognized that without a budget, brand awareness was going to be a challenge. A successful brand is built from the inside out. The first step was to supply staff members with the brand guidelines and brand templates (e.g., letterhead, business cards, envelopes, presentation slides) for consistent use of the logo and messaging. Brand awareness is driven by leadership buy-in and by having all staff members consistently abide by the brand guidelines. Staff members also received guidance on how to develop and execute communications plans and deliverables. Nearly six years after establishing the OCDPH brand, staff members continue to consistently use the department name, logo, and messaging. This cohesion helps to develop and strengthen OCDPH’s culture; support its vision, mission and values; and share its authentic story. Every person in OCDPH is a brand ambassador. Excellent customer service and a positive image with the people OCDPH serves builds greater trust and shapes public perceptions about why public health matters.
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Your Health Department’s Brand and Why It Matters continued from page 6
Ten Steps to Build a Brand Health departments that do not already have a brand should consider developing one. Designate a person or a small group of people to facilitate the process and manage consistent communications to the media and public. A committed public health communicator will need to create communication plans, coordinate messages with the experts, tell stories, help promote health education, understand the community’s health needs, be prepared with crisis communications, be up-to-date on what’s new in the media, and respond immediately to media and social media requests. This work not only builds the brand, but also increases support of public health and improves public perceptions.
Here are 10 steps to build a brand: 1. Use the brand consistently (logo, templates, messages, etc.).
2. Create an intentional and authentic identity through the following: a. Vision (strategic plan) – Commit to the organization’s vision, mission, and values, and know where you’re going. b. Voice – Use unified messages, credible health information, and data. c. Tone – Convey authority with a personal approach. d. Style – Create a great experience for the public. 3. Frame your messaging by doing the following: a. Use credible, respected, and expert messengers. b. Reference credible data sources. c. Use numbers in an understandable way. d. Create content people will want to read. e. Share possible outcomes if messages are ignored. f. Focus on people’s and the community’s health. g. Recognize health partners’ contributions to solving public health issues. h. Use metaphors to help people understand issues. i. Use visuals to convey messages (photos, illustrations, video, etc.). j. Share successes and personal stories to evoke an emotional connection and response. 4. Deliver credible, relevant and timely information efficiently and effectively via printed materials, social media posts, news releases, e-mails, television and radio interviews, public service announcements, promotional products, websites, newsletters, etc. 5. Provide excellent customer service. 6. Keep the facility’s appearance clean and accessible. 7. Maintain the quality of services and programs provided. 8. Conduct public outreach (e.g., lectures, presentations, fairs, festivals, conferences, and community events). 9. Provide clear objectives and instructions when giving a call to action, and provide necessary resources to accomplish the action item and work toward a solution. 10. Ask people what they want and ask for feedback through surveys, assessments, face-to-face discussions, etc.
Find OCDPH’s branding guidelines at https://www.miottawa.org/Health/OCHD/ pdf/OCDPH_BrandStandardsGuide.pdf. For more information, visit www. miOttawa.org/miHealth or e-mail Kristina Wieghmink at kwieghmink@miottawa.org.
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Many Partners, One Voice: How Snohomish County is Using a Coordinated Approach to Tackling the Opioid Epidemic By Heather Thomas, Public & Government Affairs Manager, Snohomish Health District, and Shari Ireton, Director of Communications, Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office, Everett, WA
Snohomish County is taking a new approach to the opioid epidemic. The opioid epidemic is not unique to Snohomish County, which is located north of Seattle and is the third largest county in Washington. But what sets this community apart is the cross-agency collaboration and the decision by multiple key agencies, including the Snohomish Health District and the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office, to treat this as an emergency.
Background In early 2015, the Snohomish Health District and Snohomish County Human Services released a mortality and treatment trends report looking at heroin in the county.1 This was one of the first such reports in Washington State and it drew a considerable amount of media and stakeholder interest. It stated that “from 2011 to 2013, approximately one out of every five heroin deaths in the state occurred locally.” Unfortunately, there was limited staff support or financial resources to do much more than analyze the data. The following year, the Los Angeles Times published a detailed investigation of a black market OxyContin ring that was trafficking opioids from Los
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Angeles to Everett, WA.2 This again garnered the attention of elected officials, community members, and local media. The Snohomish Health District leveraged this interest by hosting a series of opioid forums around the county. However, the two most repeated questions from attendees at the forums were about where could they go for more information and what could they do to help. The answer was complicated; there was no central place to point them to or clear suggestions on how to help. These events led to the creation of Snohomish Overdose Prevention, a branded platform for communicating opioid-related information with one unified voice. While created and paid for by the Snohomish Health District, the logo and website were intentionally created to be inclusive. This website, http://www. snohomishoverdoseprevention.com, and accompanying social media accounts were developed to be a one-stop shop for resources. The platforms helped readers understand the problem, prevent addiction, and learn how to save lives.
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Establishing a “MAC” Group
10 Things to Know about Opioids
In November 2017, the Board of Health for the Snohomish Health District, Snohomish County Executive Dave Somers, Sheriff Ty Trenary, and the Snohomish County Council signed a joint resolution affirming their commitment to tackle the opioid epidemic in Snohomish County through partnerships, coordination, and collaboration.3 Executive Somers also directed the county’s Department of Emergency Management to partially activate the Emergency Coordination Center. While not a formal declaration of emergency, this allows for better coordination and communication across jurisdictions, agencies, and service providers in the county. The result was the formation of the Opioid Response MultiAgency Coordination Group, or MAC Group for short. The MAC Group developed a set of goals focused on reducing the impact that opioids have on the health, safety, and quality of life in county communities. From the beginning, the goals have included the following:
Reflecting on the questions posed by attendees at the opioid forums the year prior, ESF #15 set out to develop a flexible messaging framework. The result was the “10 Things to Know About Opioids” campaign, providing information and resources on how to help. The campaign focused on the following concepts:
1. Reduce opioid misuse and abuse; 2. Lessen the availability of opioids; 3. Reduce criminal activity associated with opioids; 4. Use data to detect, monitor, evaluate, and act; 5. Reduce collateral damage to communities; 6. Provide information about the response in a timely and coordinated manner; and 7. Ensure the availability of resources that efficiently and effectively support response efforts. Each of the emergency support functions (ESF) are represented by agencies in a lead and alternate role, with bi-weekly briefings. ESF #15 – External Affairs is led by the Sheriff’s Office, with the Health District and County Executive’s Office in support roles. These three agencies each have access to update the website and share content through social media. When a MACrelated press release goes out, it is done under Snohomish Overdose Prevention branding, with all three agencies listed as contacts.
1. Know your meds, store your meds. 2. Talk to seniors. 3. Learn about addiction. 4. Talk to your kids. 5. Take back your unwanted meds. 6. Get involved. 7. Give responsibly. 8. Talk to your provider. 9. Know how to help, support. 10. Know who to call. With grant funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), through the Washington State Department of Health, the Snohomish Overdose Prevention team published a resource guide in August 2018. The team wrote an article corresponding to each of the “10 things to know,” accompanied by a resource directory in the back. The guide contains information on how to connect with opioid or overdoserelated resources; crisis support and hotlines; counseling and recovery groups; treatment options, programs, and providers; housing support; outreach services for veterans; and efforts geared toward reaching young people. It also contains practical advice on securing pain medications so they do not wind up in the wrong hands, and describes how to safely dispose of prescription drugs when they are no longer needed. The guide also explains how addiction affects people, how best to talk with those in your life who are at risk, and where to obtain naloxone, a life-saving opioid overdose reversal medication. These free guides are being distributed to libraries, senior centers, government facilities, and clinics throughout Snohomish County. An electronic copy of the guide can also be viewed and downloaded on the Snohomish Overdose Prevention website. continued on page 10
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Many Partners, One Voice: How Snohomish County is Using a Coordinated Approach to Tackling the Opioid Epidemic continued from page 9
“At the largest emergency department, the Snohomish Health District pays for a nurse to collect information on all opioid-related overdoses brought to the hospital and provide outreach to overdose patients, when possible.”
The launch of the campaign and the guides culminated in two large community events. To commemorate International Overdose Awareness Day, the health district, the county, and local families held a candlelight vigil and resource fair. The second annual “A Night to Remember, A Time to Act” event was held in August at the Snohomish County Campus. It featured a resource fair including more than 12 community providers and drew over 100 attendees. The next weekend, the Health District collaborated with the Everett AquaSox baseball team for Overdose Awareness Night. The announcer shared opioid information, the team’s mascot demonstrated how to safely dispose of unwanted medication, and the concourse was lined with 10 tables, one for each “thing to know.” The evening’s more than 6,000 attendees were invited to visit each table to learn the answers needed to complete their 10-question quiz, which could be turned in at the AquaSox table to be entered for drawings. Visitors at the tables also received giveaways like medicine lock bottles, bags, and boxes. The AquaSox reported that Overdose Awareness Night broke the team’s record for the number of completed entries for their prize giveaways. The highlight of the night was the local Narcotics Anonymous group presenting Snohomish Health District with a $450 check, collected through personal donations, to be used for continued prevention and education work.
A New Kind of Point-in-Time Survey With its inaugural seven-day, point-in-time data collection in 2017, the Snohomish Health District developed a tracking sheet for local partners to capture opioid overdose events for one week in July. The result: 37 overdoses in Snohomish County in seven days. Three were fatal. This point-in-time study was repeated in July 2018.4 There were 57 overdoses, representing a nearly 55% increase in just one year. Two people died. During the point-in-time data collection in 2018, ESF #15 planned out staff coverage and embedded reporters for each day of the survey. The goal was
to collect stories and share different perspectives of the opioid epidemic making an impact on Snohomish County. This effort generated more than a dozen print, radio, and television stories, as well as a chance to share work that the MAC Group was doing in the community. The team also took its own stories, photos, and videos during the week and will publish the material online in 2019.
Leveraging Partnerships to Save Lives The CDC grant used to pay for the resource guides also helps support partnerships with many of the local hospitals in Snohomish County. At the largest emergency department, the Snohomish Health District pays for a nurse to collect information on all opioid-related overdoses brought to the hospital and provide outreach to overdose patients, when possible. During the pointin-time survey, the nurse noted to the health department staff that an unusual number of patients had been reporting overdoses from 30 milligram Percocet pills—or Perc 30s— purchased on the street. The Snohomish Health District reached out to the local drug task force with the information. Law enforcement also shared that counterfeit Perc 30s laced with fentanyl were rumored to be on the street, but they had yet to locate them or the source. A client contacted the local syringe exchange and provided a photograph of one of the counterfeit pills, which the health department shared with the drug task force. Staff from the health district then created a warning postcard that was distributed to hospitals, first responders, syringe exchange clients, and the general public on social media.
Encouraging Community Involvement Safely Several news stories emerged in 2017 showing parents cleaning up used syringes in parks and on school properties. Business owners were also complaining about syringes being left in their doorways, parking lots, and back alleys. To try to prevent well-meaning individuals from accidental needle sticks, continued on page 11
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NACCHO Exchange Many Partners, One Voice: How Snohomish County is Using a Coordinated Approach to Tackling the Opioid Epidemic continued from page 10
and to provide for proper disposal, the Snohomish Health District began providing free needle clean-up kits. The kits include an instruction card, small sharps container, safety glasses, tongs, hand sanitizer, and rubber gloves. The City of Everett helped to produce a short video on YouTube showing how to safely pick up needles and place them in a sharps container.5 After launching the program, Snohomish Overdose Prevention encountered a few challenges that it needed to address: r Running out of supplies. The immediate interest was far greater than expected. Within the first 24 hours, all of the prepared kits were collected. A supply issue with one of the manufacturers also delayed receiving a full shipment of the tongs, so the Health District had to start a waiting list until deliveries arrived. r People trying to discredit the materials. The manufacturer of the rubber gloves indicated they were “puncture-proof,” and so initial information described them as such. One individual picked up a kit, intentionally jammed a needle through the glove, and posted a photo on social media. That picture was seen by a reporter who wanted to do a follow-up story. Messaging was created pointing to the instructions and training video – which instructed people to use the tongs to collect and place the syringes into the sharps container – and indicating that following those instructions meant the gloves should not come into contact with the syringes. Materials were also revised to describe the gloves as “puncture-resistant” instead of “puncture-proof.” Through MAC Group efforts, the program was further expanded in 2018. The county’s Solid Waste Program sponsored five free drop-off locations for the sharps containers when full. Additional cities stepped up, so there
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are now 12 locations across the county where a free needle clean-up kit can be picked up. Since starting the program, more than 1,000 kits have been claimed and over 10,000 syringes have been safely disposed of.
References 1. Snohomish Health District. (2015). Heroin in Snohomish County: Mortality and treatment trends [Report]. Retrieved from http://www.snohd.org/ DocumentCenter/View/648/Heroinin-Snohomish-County-Mortality-andTreatment-Trends-for-2015-PDF. 2. Los Angeles Times (2016). How blackmarket OxyContin spurred a town’s descent into crime, addiction and heartbreak. Retrieved from https://www. latimes.com/projects/la-me-oxycontineverett/. 3. Snohomish Overdose Prevention. (2017). A joint resolution affirming the Snohomish County Executive, Snohomish County Council, Snohomish County Sheriff, and Snohomish Health District Board of Health’s commitment to ending the opioid epidemic in Snohomish County. Retrieved from http://snohomishoverdoseprevention. com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/JointResolution_Opioid-MAC-Group.pdf. 4. Snohomish Overdose Prevention. (2018). Opioids in Snohomish County: A point-in-time survey of overdoses [Fact sheet]. Retrieved from http:// snohomishoverdoseprevention.com/ wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Press_ Conference_Point-In-Time_2018_8.5x11. pdf. 5. Snohomish Overdose Prevention. (2017). What to do if you find a needle [Video]. Retrieved from https://youtu. be/0vizCPKeLWA. For more information, e-mail Heather Thomas at hthomas@snohd.org or visit http://snohomishoverdoseprevention.com.
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“Don’t Bug Me”: How to Teach an Old Flu Bug New Tricks
By Leanne Stephens, Marketing and Communications Director, Tulsa Health Department, Tulsa, OK
As public health professionals seek to influence behavior for positive change, it has become increasingly important to adapt and innovate. The communication professionals behind “Don’t Bug Me,” the long-running flu awareness and prevention campaign in Tulsa County, Oklahoma, did just that when they overhauled the campaign for the 2017– 2018 flu season.
Background Now in its fifteenth year, the “Don’t Bug Me” campaign is the brainchild of a public-private partnership between the Tulsa Health Department and Hillcrest HealthCare System, a comprehensive health system that serves the communities of eastern Oklahoma. After a 2003 flu vaccine shortage spurred great media attention and public concern, the agencies joined forces with one key objective: communicate tips to help stop the spread of the flu. The campaign targets children in kindergarten through fifth grade. Educational materials were geared toward children and featured the campaign’s signature mascot, “Louie Achooee,” a colorful, friendly, and helpful flu bug. Campaign materials included posters, stickers, temporary
tattoos, activity books, and coloring sheets. All materials included simple, direct messages to teach children how to prevent spreading the flu. The materials were distributed to more than 200,000 local schoolchildren in private and public schools, with help from more than 20 volunteers from the Tulsa Health Department. Additionally, a countywide coloring contest encouraged local schoolchildren to illustrate their own posters with flu prevention messaging. The Tulsa Health Department and Hillcrest HealthCare System reinforced the flu prevention messages targeted at schoolchildren with a resourceful use of earned and paid media, serving to increase credibility, frequency, and reach of the messaging. Television and radio commercials featuring the Don’t Bug Me jingle aired on local media. Print advertising in local newspapers was accompanied by the use of outdoor billboards. The two organizations hosted an annual kick-off event that highlighted local schoolchildren along with leaders of the Tulsa Health Department and Hillcrest, and they invited members of the media to attend for photo, video, and interview opportunities. Leveraging earned media proved successful for the campaign; in a Tulsa Health Department continued on page 13
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Benchmark Study, the Don’t Bug Me campaign was the initiative with the highest rate of unaided recall of all of the health department’s community wellness initiatives.
Redesign and Refresh The high cost of printed materials and waning participation in the coloring contest led the communications professionals at the Tulsa Health Department and Hillcrest to come together to strategize a campaign overhaul for 2017–2018. Conversations with school nursing and teaching staff revealed that current curriculum requirements made it difficult for teachers to integrate the Don’t Bug Me educational components and poster contest into their learning plans. High printing costs and staff time to sort and distribute materials became a challenge as well. The communications professionals determined it was time to rethink and revamp the campaign while retaining its existing brand equity. In planning for the 2017–2018 campaign, the team determined the need to modernize the approach. Instead of reaching children through their schools, it would be more effective to reach them through digital marketing while maintaining some traditional media buys. It was also time to give the brand a refresh to coincide with the new marketing strategy. One of the issues with the existing television commercial was its dated appearance, so the team decided to move forward with a new animated spot that would not be so quickly dated by the actors’ appearances. The Don’t Bug Me jingle is the epitome of an “earworm,” and is the key to the commercial’s recall and campaign success. The jingle lyrics and tune were kept the same, but the jingle was rerecorded for a more modern sound for television and radio advertising. The Hillcrest social media team developed a digital marketing campaign to include Facebook, Google, and YouTube ads. The creative collateral included infographics and the use of digital pre-roll advertising.
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Additionally, campaign planners determined it was time to bring the Don’t Bug Me campaign’s beloved mascot to life. The team hired a vendor who could create a custom mascot costume from renderings of the cartoon character. The real, live Louie Achoooee was born and available to classrooms and community events to spread the message of how to prevent spread of the flu. Removing the poster contest from the campaign and placing a greater focus on digital ads instead of traditional media buying yielded a 40% savings on the cost of the campaign.
Launching the Campaign The severity of the 2017–2018 flu season made the campaign more important than ever. The television buy launched in January 2018 and ran through March, with the radio buy running parallel. The traditional media buy was supported by a digital campaign. To support the campaign and increase public awareness of the importance of a seasonal flu vaccine, the Tulsa Health Department hosted a free flu shot clinic at a local mall. The Tulsa Health Department activated the Incident Command System (ICS) to ensure resources were mobilized and ready to conduct mass vaccination at the pop-up clinic. The clinic provided an opportunity for Tulsa Health Department to evaluate nine of the 15 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Public Health Preparedness Capabilities. The health department’s Emergency Preparedness and Response staff, nursing staff, and Oklahoma Medical Reserve Corps volunteers provided 307 vaccinations in the four hours the clinic was open to the public. The clinic was promoted as a Don’t Bug Me free flu shot pop-up clinic, which supported the campaign and was easily recognized and understood by the public. Promotional activities included the use of web and social media advertising, along with bilingual (English and Spanish) posters displayed on stands in high-traffic areas of the mall to promote the clinic. Hillcrest sent an e-mail blast to more than 40,000 Utica Park Clinic members promoting the event as well. The Tulsa
Health Department’s Public Information Officer gave nine media interviews, resulting in 44 stories aired on television with an estimate earned media ad value of $61,600. Social media posts reached more than 12,000 individuals.
Results Due to the creative thinking and responsiveness of the communications professionals at the Tulsa Health Department and Hillcrest, the refreshed flu prevention campaign proved to be a success, as indicated by the following metrics: r The original Don’t Bug Me commercial was uploaded to YouTube in December 2013 and received 6,443 views in almost five years. The new spot was uploaded in January 2018 and received 91,683 views in just a few short months, an increase in views of 1,323%. r Overall Facebook ad clicks for the campaign reached 2,097 for the 38day campaign duration. r The Google Search Ads clickthrough rate was high at 1.53 percent, equating to 17,300 clicks from Feb. 1–March 15. r Google Display Ads garnered 9,112 clicks during the same timeframe. r YouTube Search Ads yielded an exceptional view rate of 2.54%. r The Tulsa Health Department’s pop-up flu shot clinic hosted at Woodland Hills Mall was a success, with 307 flu shots administered. r For the 2017–2018 flu season, the Tulsa Health Department administered 10,781 flu shots, an increase of 3.3% over the 2016–2017 flu season. r The campaign was recognized with an Award of Merit in the Community Relations category at the Public Relations Society of America Tulsa 40th Annual Silver Link awards reception. For more information, visit https:// hillcrestmedicalcenter.com/content/dontbug-me or e-mail Leanne Stephens at lstephens@tulsa-health.org.
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Prioritizing Health Literacy and Cultural Competency as Key Components of Health Equity
By Molly Mraz, Communications Director, Harford County Health Department; and Shelby L. Graves, MPH, CHES, Health Policy Analyst, for the Harford County Health Department, Bel Air, MD
Achieving the vision of the Harford County Health Department means making Harford County the healthiest community in Maryland. The following article explores how this relatively small health department has prioritized health literacy and cultural competency to turn its organizational vision into a reality.
Understanding Health Literacy and Cultural Competency: An Overview Health literacy is defined as the degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, process, and understand basic health information and services needed to make appropriate health decisions.1 In the United States, just 12% of the population has proficient health literacy skills, while more than one-third (35%) of adults—77 million people—have basic or below-basic health literacy skills.2 People with low health literacy are at increased risk for poor health status and poor health outcomes. Health literacy depends on a variety of factors. For that reason, low health literacy can and does affect people across demographic groups (e.g., race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, education). In the same way that a person who is illiterate would face challenges in processing and understanding health information—whether it be the instructions on a prescription bottle or a take-home pamphlet on sexual health—so could a college-educated individual who speaks English as a second language. Still, the impacts of low health literacy disproportionately affect individuals who have lower socioeconomic status or belong to minority groups.3 While health literacy focuses on the consumer’s understanding of health information, cultural competency involves an understanding of culture and is defined as the ability of providers and organizations to effectively deliver healthcare services that meet the social, cultural, and linguistic needs of patients.4 The level of cultural competency that providers and organizations possess directly affects their ability to continued on page 15
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develop health information materials and communications that meet the health literacy needs of the people they serve. Increasing equity in health outcomes requires that public health messaging and health communication engage everyone. Health literacy and cultural competency are key components to this engagement, but understanding these concepts can be complicated. What makes sense to one individual or organization may not make sense to another. So how can a local health department overcome this challenge? In Harford County, the health department started with a Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA).
Assessing Demographics and the Landscape of Health in Harford County Located in the northeast region of Maryland, Harford County is a mix of rural and suburban development outside of Baltimore. Home to approximately 252,160 residents, Harford is the sixth largest county in the state and the population only continues to grow each year. Its geographic location and abundant economic opportunities allow many people to thrive in the area. According to the 2017 Census, only 7.2% of Harford County residents live in poverty. Though Harford County is one of Maryland’s wealthiest in terms of income, the income is not equally distributed among jurisdictions. In fact, a closer examination of each zip code within the county reveals significant disparities in health, access, and opportunity. Understanding the diverse demographics of Harford County is essential to developing a clear understanding of the health of the community. Demographics, such as race/ ethnicity, level of educational attainment, and income, have a profound impact on one’s health; therefore, health messaging must consider each of these factors in order to provide clear and equitable health communication to every member of the community. To better understand how to improve health messaging, the health department first needed a snapshot of the landscape of health. As such, Harford County Health Department,
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in partnership with the local hospital system, prepared the Harford County CHNA5 to understand how to better serve the community. The 2018 CHNA revealed that wealth distribution is significantly unequal in the county and that the areas with the highest poverty rates had notable increases in risky health behaviors and adverse health outcomes. In response to these findings, the health department developed a new strategic plan that reflects a commitment to improving health equity in the community and incorporating this concept into daily work. The 2019–2024 Harford County Health Department Strategic Plan creates greater awareness about the importance of health equity in the community and aims to increase the understanding of these issues among employees. As part of this plan, the health department prioritizes a range of objectives, such as standardizing public health messaging through community outreach workers and increasing cultural competency of staff. These objectives will be completed by working on a unified health promotion, education, and communications strategy and identifying effective cultural competency trainings to offer to all health department staff members. Additionally, the health department will look to the Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB) standards for guidance. The PHAB standards are consistent with the 10 Essential Public Health Services and directly align with the Harford County Strategic Plan and the Community Health Improvement Plan (CHIP). Harford County Health Department authors the CHIP and leads the Harford County Local Health Improvement Coalition (LHIC), which executes the CHIP within the community. Three CHIP priorities, which align with the LHIC workgroups, include Behavioral Health, Family Health and Resilience, and Chronic Disease Prevention & Wellness. The health department has prioritized health literacy and cultural competency within this improvement plan and the LHIC work plans.
“Recognizing that low health literacy and low cultural competency is prevalent in Harford County, the health department is now striving to promote public health and prevention in the community while helping to minimize barriers to receiving care.”
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Advancing Health Literacy and Cultural Competence as Components of Health Equity Recognizing that low health literacy and low cultural competency is prevalent in Harford County, the health department is now striving to promote public health and prevention in the community while helping to minimize barriers to receiving care. By failing to promote messaging that can be understood across the health literacy spectrum, public health and healthcare institutions exacerbate barriers to health services and favorable health outcomes. Using evidence-based programs, the health department is working on a new, direct approach to health communications. Institutionally, and with the aim of improving health literacy throughout the county, the department created a new communication plan that includes standards for the creation of culturally competent health communication materials that are accurate and easy to understand. Through the efforts of the Harford County LHIC’s Chronic Disease Prevention and Wellness Workgroup, the department is creating health communication materials that focus primarily on health literacy. The goal of the Chronic Disease Prevention and Wellness Workgroup is to prevent chronic disease and promote healthy living among residents in Harford County, with a special emphasis on addressing prevention through accessible health communication methods. The messaging that the workgroup develops must meet the Harford County Health Department guidelines for creating culturally competent and clear health messaging, and the group currently references the CDC’s clear communication index for additional guidance. The workgroup is currently in its infancy, but has selected three areas of focus based on the findings of the CHNA: tobacco, cancer, and healthy eating/active living. Implementation of the new standards of communication has just begun, but Harford County Health Department is already making changes to its website to ensure the health communication messaging is culturally competent and
aids in improving health literacy for readers. Since health literacy is not just about the message itself—it also relates to formatting and dissemination—the health department addressed the imperative need for a more user-friendly website. This was done through a series of updates that involved ensuring the ability to translate the website into different languages, extensively editing program descriptions to meet plain language recommendations, adding phone numbers and locations at the top of each page, and integrating a new section for users to comment or post a complaint, which receives approximately 20 inquiries per month.
Lessons Learned Prior to the establishment of Harford County Health Department’s new communication standards, the communications team was already familiar with how challenging it could be to keep up with its diverse audiences in an evolving digital age. But the team knew it had to start somewhere. In 2012, the health department began making small improvements to its website. Over a period of three years, Harford County Health Department’s website experienced a dramatic uptick in users with per-month visits increasing from several hundred to several thousand. The significant increase in users demonstrated to the health department that the changes were effective, and website updates and usability should remain a priority. Around the time those website changes were made, the health department also joined the social media world. As engagement slowly increased on the department’s social media platforms, new platforms targeting new demographics began to emerge. It did not take long to realize that in today’s digital age, public health communicators must continuously learn where their audience lives online and how to communicate with them. Ensuring that staff are culturally competent and that health department communications can be understood across literacy levels is all a part of that continuous growth. continued on page 17
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Despite finding some success in growing social media engagement and website communication over the past few years, challenges remain. Following a department-wide assessment of cultural competency, the health department found that many staff members lacked an effective understanding of the concept. An essential part of engaging everyone from the community is having a consistent, shared understanding of health literacy and cultural competency within the organization and among community partners. As such, Harford County Health Department is working across all its programs to ensure that staff members are trained and educated on the importance of both. Key activities include providing training, addressing uncertainties about the definitions of and distinctions between health literacy and cultural competency, and advocating for a mutual understanding of these principles among community partners. An additional challenge the health department faces is reaching populations that are vulnerable and underserved throughout the county. Certain zip codes in Harford County require a different level of care and additional resources, so the health department is striving to direct more effort to the residents in those atrisk areas.
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Lastly, the ubiquitous challenge of funding, which affects all local health departments and the field of public health in general, remains. Until there are more funds available to support efforts to improve public health communication— and, more specifically, address health literacy and cultural competency—health departments will struggle to develop and implement robust communications initiatives that could improve community and population health.
References 1. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. (2010). National action plan to improve health literacy. Retrieved from https://health.gov/communication/ hlactionplan/pdf/Health_Literacy_ Action_Plan.pdf. 2. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. (2008). America’s health literacy: Why we need accessible health information. [Issue brief]. Retrieved from https:// health.gov/communication/literacy/ issuebrief.
3. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. (2010). National action plan to improve health literacy. Retrieved from https://health.gov/communication/ hlactionplan/pdf/Health_Literacy_ Action_Plan.pdf. 4. Betancourt, J. R., Green, A. R., & Carrillo, J. E. (2002). Cultural competence in health care: Emerging frameworks and practical approaches. New York: The Commonwealth Fund. Retrieved from https://hpi.georgetown. edu/agingsociety/pubhtml/cultural/ cultural.html#1. 5. Harford County Local Health Improvement Coalition & University of Maryland Upper Chesapeake Health. (2018, July). Harford County community needs assessment, 2018. Retrieved from https:// harfordcountyhealth.com/wp-content/ uploads/2018/07/2018-CommunityHealth-Needs-Assessment.pdf. For more information, e-mail Molly Mraz at molly.mraz@maryland.gov or visit http://www.harfordcountyhealth.com.
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Making Your Voice Heard: Best Practices for Communicating Effectively with Policymakers
By Adriane Casalotti, MPH, MSW, Chief of Government and Public Affairs, and Ian Goldstein, MA, Government Affairs Senior Specialist, NACCHO
Public health professionals work each day to keep their communities healthy and safe. They are local leaders, well versed in what works in their localities and what is needed to improve the health of their populations. It is from this vantage point that Members of Congress look to you for guidance and expertise. No matter your position, everyone shares a responsibility to help elected officials at all levels understand the work of local public health. This is critical to inform their decisions on health policy, social programs, and funding.
Ways to Engage: Education, Advocacy, and Lobbying The policy and funding decisions made in Washington have a direct effect on local public health practice, which is why it is important to hone your skills to effectively communicate with policymakers. We all have a role to play and a way to join the policy conversation. Depending on your local rules, you can educate elected officials on an issue, you can advocate for a topic or funding, or you can lobby for action on a specific piece of legislation. A meeting with a focus on education is a meeting in which a local health department advocate simply wants to inform their representative about public health. This could be talking about health data or statistics, health outcomes in your community, or even what resources your department needs. A meeting with an advocacy focus occurs when local health departments want their representative to understand evidence-based policy or educate them on policy ideas that would improve health in their district. For a meeting to be classified as lobbying, a public health advocate would have to attempt to influence a policymaker’s vote to support or reject a specific piece of legislation.
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Making Your Voice Heard: Best Practices for Communicating Effectively with Policymakers continued from page 18
Doing Your Homework
Join with NACCHO
Once you identify your policy goal and engagement technique, you can craft your message. Policymakers are often very busy, as they are jumping from one meeting or event to the next; therefore, local health departments must do their homework. It is important to compile the most important information about the health department and the community into a one-page leavebehind document. (A template to help you create your fact sheet can be found in the NACCHO 2019 Advocacy Toolkit.) Since meetings are short, having something to leave with the office will give the policymaker and their staff an additional opportunity to review your information after the meeting. You will also want to do your homework on the elected official’s position: is it something that the legislature can do something about? Is it something the official has spoken about or supported legislation on in the past? Some of this information can be found online, but it is also worthwhile to ask about their familiarity with a topic at the beginning of your meeting to level-set the conversation. Have an “ask.” What do you want them to do as a result of this meeting? For many, it may be building a relationship with the official to let them know you are a resource in the future. Other times, it is a concrete action, like supporting a bill, tweeting about an issue, or making a commitment to visit a local health department. Once the ask is delivered, be sure to allot enough time for questions from the individuals you are meeting with.
While it is critical that you engage with your elected officials, it is also important that we amplify the message of the importance of local public health as a whole. Please stay in touch with NACCHO’s Government Relations staff as you engage with federal officials, so that we can also work with them towards our shared goals. In addition, we have developed numerous avenues for local public health professionals to stay informed and engaged in this important work: r Join NACCHO’s Congressional Action Network (https://www. naccho.org/advocacy/take-action) to receive action alerts to make your voice heard concerning policies that could have an impact on the health of your community. r Sign up for our e-newsletter, News from Washington, which includes weekly updates on federal public health activities (https://www. naccho.org/advocacy/news). r Subscribe to the NACCHO Podcast Series to get the latest news and hear from leaders in the public health sphere (https://www.naccho. org/communications/publications/ blogs). r Review the NACCHO 2019 Advocacy Toolkit (https://www.naccho.org/ advocacy). r Nominate yourself or someone else for NACCHO’s Advocate of the Year Award (https://www.naccho. org/membership/awards). r Contact us: We are here to help!
Follow Up
“No matter your position, everyone shares a responsibility to help elected officials at all levels understand the work of local public health. This is critical to inform their decisions on health policy, social programs, and funding.”
For more information, contact Adriane Casalotti at acasalotti@naccho.org.
Once the meeting ends, it is always a best practice to send a follow-up thankyou in order to ensure a continued line of communication for future work. You can also periodically follow up with the policymaker and their staff when you have news to share from your local health department. Keeping in touch with them regularly helps them to see you as a trusted resource of credible information.
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Enhancing Employee Engagement through a Comprehensive Internal Communications Strategy
By Valerie Crow, Director of Communications, Cobb & Douglas Public Health, Marietta, GA Recognizing its employees as its greatest resource, Cobb & Douglas Public Health (CDPH), an accredited health department located in the northwest suburbs of Atlanta, has taken a proactive and innovative approach to enhancing morale through the implementation of a comprehensive internal communications strategy. The primary objective of this strategy is to provide multiple avenues for CDPH employees to feel valued and to actively engage in improving CDPH. The CDPH Leadership Team identified the need to address internal communication and morale after reviewing declining employee satisfaction rates. According to the 2013 Employee Satisfaction Survey, CDPH employees felt that the work they performed was undervalued and that their voices were unheard. In response, both the Leadership Team and the Employee Enhancement Committee—a team formed to recognize employees through an employee recognition, appreciation, and engagement program—led by the Director of Communications, developed a targeted approach to improve morale through eight specific strategies. The eight strategies, identified in the comprehensive internal communications strategy, include the following: 1. Connect CDPH employees to the “big picture” by giving yearly “State of CDPH” addresses and holding quarterly supervisor meetings. 2. Reward employees who go beyond the norm through recognition and appreciation to build morale. 3. Let all employees know that they matter. 4. Make decisions transparent and, when possible, let employees have a voice in those decisions. 5. Collaborate on organizational goals. 6. Share the positive news. 7. Keep employees in the know. 8. Encourage program managers to involve staff on a regular basis. The strategy has been successful because each of the eight components highlight an area within CDPH that needed to be addressed. For example, staff now have the opportunity to voice their opinions through the SolutionBox, an online suggestion box that allows employees to anonymously submit an idea or suggestion. In addition, CDPH improved information sharing through its bimonthly internal newsletter, Spotlight, and used the CDPH intranet site to highlight ideas, suggestions, and solutions from staff. Another example of an area that needed to be addressed was to create fun and innovative ways to promote an environment in which employees felt appreciated. CDPH expanded new employee incentives such as hosting monthly lunchand-learns, ice cream socials, food truck lunches, team spirit week, and team-building chili cook-offs. These incentives were aimed at providing motivational engagement opportunities throughout the year. CDPH’s implementation of its comprehensive internal communications strategy highlights approaches health departments can take to improve satisfaction rates among employees. CDPH continues to monitor the effectiveness of this process each year through an employee satisfaction survey, which it conducts each July. CDPH was able to move the dial in making employees feel valued and understood by giving them the opportunity to share their opinions and offer solutions to make the organization a better place to work. All the goals and objectives of the comprehensive internal communications strategy continue to be met and the results are promising. The average internal communications rating per year has shown an increase from 3.71 in 2014 to 3.83 (on a five-point scale) in 2018. For more information, visit http://www.cobbanddouglaspublichealth.org or e-mail Valerie Crow at valerie. crow@dph.ga.gov.
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Beyond the Press Release: Three Ways to Successfully Engage the Media By Theresa Spinner, MA, Director of Media and Public Relations, NACCHO
Publicizing the work of your local health department is important because public health matters. If you want potential partners, legislators, and funders to value what you do and support your efforts to protect your community, you must sustain your visibility with them. Here are three media relations strategies to highlight your successes and needs.
Media Backgrounders The standard press release format is perfect if you are making an announcement of some kind, but what if you just want to educate the press and your community about a particular issue? An effective vehicle to spread the word is a media backgrounder. Media backgrounders allow you to discuss a topic at length and, importantly, completely control the message. Contrast this with getting a quote or two in a newspaper article at the reporter’s discretion. Tying your health department’s efforts to major health observances such as American Heart Month, American Diabetes Month, or National Infant Immunization Week, which are often covered in the news, is a good way to generate media attention. For example, DeKalb County (GA) Board
of Health Director Dr. Sandra Elizabeth Ford worked with NACCHO to create a Q&A-style media backgrounder, “How Local Health Departments Help Pregnant Moms Prevent Birth Defects,” which was released in January to bring attention to National Birth Defects Month. Dr. Ford’s backgrounder began with an introductory section citing statistics on birth defects from the CDC, followed by four questions: 1. How do local health departments help expectant moms have healthy babies and prevent birth defects? 2. Are some moms more at risk than others? What are the risk factors? 3. What are you doing at your health department? 4. How easy or difficult would it be for other local health departments around the country to replicate your program’s success? This relatively simple document received excellent media pick-up. Many publications reprinted the backgrounder, including Pittsburgh Parent, The Florida Sun, and The Los Angeles Sentinel. In addition, Dr. Ford was invited to appear on two radio shows. An article in the Washington Informer newspaper quoted from it in a story, “CDC Guide Gives continued on page 22
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Tips for Pregnant Moms to Prevent Birth Defects: Health Officials: Greatest Risks Include Nutrition, Poverty, Stress.” These Q&A-style media backgrounders have a number of advantages compared to standard press releases: many news organizations will reprint them verbatim, they don’t have to conform to the standard 500-word limit of press releases, and you select the question, thereby controlling the message. Also, consider distributing your media backgrounder through a newswire press service. For example, vender EIN Presswire charges just $49 to send a 700word document around the country. Once you’ve gotten your media backgrounder published, be sure to forward a copy to your local legislators and potential funders and partners. Let them know that what you do is valuable and worth supporting.
Op-Eds For your op-ed to be successful, it must have a news hook. It is not enough that you have a valuable message worth sharing. Your op-ed is more likely if you can connect it to something happening in the news that week. For example, NACCHO recently worked with the Three Rivers District Health Department in rural Kentucky to publish an op-ed promoting increased access to pediatric immunizations in rural areas. NACCHO referenced a CDC report indicating that families in rural areas were less likely than their urban counterparts to have their children immunized, because of the distance between where they live and where their healthcare providers are located. These were undeniably valuable messages, but two newspapers turned down publishing the piece. However, NACCHO and Three Rivers added a new “lede,” an introductory paragraph to the op-ed tying the message to the current measles outbreak across the country. As a result, the Louisville Courier-Journal published the op-ed. The lesson learned was that linking your op-ed to a current news story will greatly enhance its chances of being published by a daily newspaper.
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Tip Sheets Tip sheets may be the easiest information to get placed in the media. They can be written simply and provide a useful service to readers. Take advantage of the great information provided online by the CDC and tailor the information to your health department. A scan of media on Monday, March 3, the day this article was written, revealed a story in a New Orleans news outlet about health and safety tips for Mardi Gras, which was to take place the next day. The article advised people to celebrate the holiday safely by wearing sunscreen, drinking lots of water between alcoholic beverages, and washing their hands frequently. Tips sheets can be created well in advance of events, so local health departments can create a bank of them. Health departments have been very successful at placing tip sheets on topics such as food safety during the summer picnic season, protecting against mosquito-borne diseases, pool safety, etc. Again, use materials provided by the CDC and make them your own. One last word: take the time to meet the reporters who cover your issues. Go to their offices and spend 30 minutes discussing how you can help them with their stories, or have them come to your office for a lunch meeting. It will easier for you to connect with them once they have met you and can put a face to your name. Good luck! For more information, e-mail Theresa Spinner at tspinner@naccho.org.
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About NACCHO Exchange
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NACCHO Exchange, the quarterly magazine of the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO), reaches every local health department in the nation. It presents successful and effective resources, tools, programs, and practices to help local public health professionals protect and improve the health of all people and all communities.
Mailing and Contact Information
Please direct comments or questions about Exchange to Taylarr Lopez, Publications Communications Specialist, at tlopez@ naccho.org. To report changes in contact information or to check membership status, please contact NACCHO’s membership staff at 877-533-1320 or e-mail membership@naccho.org. Additional copies of NACCHO Exchange may be ordered at http:// www.naccho.org/pubs.
Supporters NACCHO is grateful for the support of the following sponsors: American Cancer Society; American Heart Association; The ARC; Association of State and Territorial Health Officials; Axiall; The California Endowment; CDC Foundation; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists; de Beaumont Foundation; Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response; Office of the Surgeon General; Food and Drug Administration; Gilead Sciences; Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute; Health Resources and Services Administration; Janssen Therapeutics; Johns Hopkins University; The Kresge Foundation; National Marrow Donor Program; NORC; Oak Ridge Associated Universities; Partners HealthCare System, Inc.; Pew Charitable Trust; RAND Corporation; Robert Wood Johnson Foundation; Skoll; University of Massachusetts Medical School; University of Minnesota; University of North Carolina; University of Pittsburgh; Washington University at St. Louis; W. K. Kellogg Foundation; YMCA of the USA. The views expressed within do not necessarily represent those of the sponsors.
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NACCHO 1201 Eye Street, NW, Fourth Floor Washington, DC 20005 Phone: (202) 783 - 5550 Fax: (202) 783 - 1583 www.naccho.org
PERMIT #5314
National Health Observances May:
Cervical Health Awareness Month
June:
American Heart Month
Special Thanks NACCHO thanks all of the contributing authors for their involvement in this issue. Thanks also go to the NACCHO staff members responsible for making this issue a success: Adriane Casalotti, Andrea Grenadier, Taylarr Lopez, Kimberly Rodgers, Michelle Shapiro, Theresa Spinner, and Lindsay Tiffany.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT 1225 LBS OF PAPER MADE WITH 25% POST CONSUMER RECYCLED FIBER SAVES… 1,242 lbs wood
A total of 4 trees that supplies enough oxygen for 2 people annually.
1,814 gal water
Enough water to take 105 eight-minute showers..
1mln BTUs energy
Enough energy to power an average American household for 5 days..
377 lbs emissions
Carbon sequestered by 4 tree seedlings grown for 10 years.
110 lbs solid waste Trash thrown away by 24 people in a single day..
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