Promote routine care with health awareness campaigns

We all know that the COVID-19 pandemic took a toll on routine screenings. But to be fair, the pandemic wasn’t the first obstacle to preventative care and routine screenings. Healthy People data notes that in 2015 only 8.5% of adults age 35 years and older received all recommended high-priority clinical preventative services, and that number fell to 5.3% in 2020. Post-COVID, we’re still seeing issues:

• As of February 2023, Americans use preventive services at about half the recommended rate.
• According to the National Colorectal Cancer Roundtable, 1 in 3 Adults ages 45+ are not screened for colonoscopies as recommended.
• Coverage for children’s vaccines decreased for the 2023-2024 school year compared to 2022-20223.
• Research estimates that the U.S. misses out on potential cost savings of around $55 billion annually due to missed preventive care opportunities.

Though this is a limited look at the situation, it’s enough to tell us that habits in routine healthcare isn’t where we want it to be. This is alarming to healthcare providers and public health experts who know that widespread participation in preventive care is needed for our communities and nation to continue upward trends in life expectancy and quality of life.

So, what can healthcare systems like yours do to help? Cue the trusty marketing campaign, or a health awareness campaign in this case. Let’s take a look at some ideas for creating successful health campaigns.

All good health awareness campaign ideas focus on motivation

If your healthcare system plans to create a health awareness campaign in the near future, stop first and think about the concept of motivation. How can you motivate your target audience to schedule an appointment for an annual exam or routine screening? One way to focus your efforts is to use the six principles of persuasion laid out in the popular book “Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion” by Robert B. Cialdini, Ph.D.
Dr. Cialdini’s six principles in regard to business and marketing are:

• Liking. We’re more likely to listen to people whom we like or who like us.
• Reciprocation. This means giving something away to consumers with the expectation that they’ll return the favor by using your services or products (humans tend to feel a strong responsibility to return favors).
• Authority. Because most of us are raised to respect authority, we are often persuaded by experts (who are doctors in the healthcare industry).
• Social proof. Our peers (friends, neighbors, co-workers, etc.) also influence our decisions, sometimes even more so than experts. Think: “If my friend is doing it, I should probably do it, too.”
• Consistency. This is about commitment or getting the consumer to follow through.
• Scarcity. This is based on the belief that consumers want something more when they think the supply is limited.

These principles can be used alone or combined. Let’s look at how you can apply these to campaigns.

Idea #1: Use local celebrities to create connection and influence

We listen to or watch our local radio or TV personalities every day, and because of this, they become our “friends.” This is actually a documented psychological phenomenon known as parasocial interaction: We don’t know them, but we like them. Partner with local radio or TV personalities to promote routine care, like The Christ Hospital Health Network did in this blog post about the importance of having a primary care provider.

Idea #2: Draw attention to mobile health clinics

Using incentives and creating a fun environment goes a long way. Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center used the reciprocation and social proof principles to encourage teens to get the COVID-19 vaccine. The health system brought its mobile vaccination clinic to a neighborhood park and turned the event into a fun social activity with games, a DJ and a free food truck.

This health awareness campaign idea can be replicated with other mobile health clinics like mobile mammography units. Advertise the service and freebie offer in advance on social media and local broadcast media and watch the line grow.

Idea #3: Feature primary care providers in videos

St. Elizabeth Healthcare uses the authority and liking principles to produce short videos of intimate conversations with their doctors. Only the doctors speak in the videos, which gets your attention. But the videos are also comforting to watch, because the physicians speak calmly and cheerfully.

They share these videos on YouTube and other social media platforms as well as on the TVs in their waiting rooms. Watch this example about the importance of annual wellness visits.

Idea #4: Show peers in videos

Cincinnati Children’s also uses video to motivate. In this case, they put the liking and social proof principles to work in this video called “Why I Vaccinate.” The parents in the video share their reasons for vaccinating their children. It’s a sweet thing to watch, complete with cute images of babies, which is enough to pull on any parent’s heartstrings.

Don’t forget your target audience’s needs

We say this a lot at WG Content, but it’s always worth repeating: When creating your health awareness campaign, make sure your messaging and offers meet the needs of your target audience. This means answering any questions or addressing any concerns you think they might have and appealing to their lifestyles. If you’re not considering their needs, your campaign will fall flat.

Keep all groups in your community in mind

Everyone needs preventive care, so you have to make sure your message reaches everyone. Be sure to devote resources and time to reaching everyone in your community. Some ways to be inclusive include:

• Create ads and videos in English, Spanish and any other language spoken by a defined minority community in your area.
• Create content that features all members of your community, such as the LGBTQ+ community, Indigenous peoples, and marginalized groups.
• Partner with personalities from minority-owned and operated broadcast stations and businesses.
• Feature minority doctors in your campaigns.
• When doing community events in minority neighborhoods, like mobile health clinics, try to staff the event with employees from that neighborhood.

Need support implementing health awareness campaigns?

With these ideas and tips, your health system can help make preventive care and routine screenings the norm and drive positive public health outcomes for generations to come. If you need support on your campaigns, WG Content can help. Reach out anytime.

Editor’s note: This post was originally published in June 2021. It was updated in November 2024.

More tips about health awareness campaigns:

Want more insights on all things content?

Sign up for WG Content’s newsletter, Content Counts.

Subscribe