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Using a Collaborative Regional Approach to Shape More Impactful Public Health Communications

NCHCMM Conference

�August 2022

Agenda

• About Us�
• Campaign Overview �
• Process, Structure & Approach�
• Campaign Results �
• Key Learnings�
• Our Vision for the Future of Health Communications in WNC�
• Panel Discussion�
• Q & A

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About Us

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About WNC

• Primarily rural, mountainous Appalachian region
• Population of fewer than 800,000 people across 16 counties
• Buncombe County (population 252,268) is the mostly densely populated.
• Eighty-eight percent of counties in western North Carolina are designated as “rural."
• The WNC region covers 6,685 square miles; a quarter (25%) are national or state forests.

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https://www.wnchn.org/wnc-data/about-wnc-2/

Campaign Overview

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Above: Campaign overview video created by Andre Daugherty, November 2021

Health Communications Challenges & Opportunities

Before launching the regional campaign, health communicators from public health agencies and hospitals in WNC faced many challenges…

• Balancing COVID response with 'typical' responsibilities
• Resource underload (particularly with communications)
• Misinformation / Community backlash
• Connecting to others, finding ways to meaningfully collaborate
• Finding avenues to reach those who don't consume traditional media
• Getting proactive messages out while media wants to focus on problems
• Reaching Latinx families; learning about their concerns �

Source: WNC Health Communicators Collaborative Check-in Survey, August 2020

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Why did we advocate for a regional approach?�

• Many of our WNC counties are rural. While reach through traditional means is limited, much of population can be found online.

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• WNC residents sometimes receive conflicting messages and misinformation, particularly on social media. Local public health needs to fill the void.�
• Public health communicators in WNC are experts when it comes to their communities and what will work.�
• Local agencies and communities benefit from �shared learning, resource-sharing, and capacity-building at the regional level.

The WNC Health Communicators Collaborative

March, 2019:

WNC Health Network organized a group of local hospital and health department-based health communicators, now known as the WNC Health Communicators Collaborative

�September, 2020:

Launched a three-month regional COVID-19 health communications campaign pilot in five WNC counties.

�December, 2020:

The success of this pilot led to the launch of our regional campaign, My Reason WNC

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Above: WNC Health Communicators Collaborative members at the My Reason WNC Wrap-Up Celebration, May 2022

Above: WNC Health Communicators Collaborative members at a meeting in Madison County, 2019

Goals

The goals of the #MyReasonWNC campaign were:

1. To provide information on vaccine safety, prioritization, and access while encouraging county residents to get vaccinated.
2. To offer guidelines and best practices for COVID-19 safety and prevention.
3. To reach and build trust with all residents of WNC, be inclusive of all communities and people in the region, and address specific communities’ concerns.

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www.wnchn.org/myreasonwnc

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Highlights

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Process, Structure

& Approach

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Highlights

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DATES: 3/2019 - 5/2022

Regional Storytellers

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Kristin Washington

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“Regional Storytellers” collected and filmed stories from local community members and leaders about their personal reasons for practicing COVID-19 prevention measures and getting vaccinated.

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The videos have been shared across social media and YouTube, resulting in millions of views. These collected stories serve as the backbone of the “My Reason WNC” campaign.

#MyReasonWNC YouTube Playlist

Regional Stories

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MyReason WNC Video Library

Workflow Process

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1. “Regional Storytellers” - We hired amateur and professional photographers and videographers embedded in diverse communities throughout WNC to collect stories (videos and photos) from local community members and leaders about their reasons for practicing COVID-19 prevention measures and getting vaccinated.
2. WNC Health Network and JB Media followed CDC and NC DHHS guidance and worked with health communicators and community-based partners in WNC to co-create messages to be disseminated to the public. This included conducting community listening sessions to learn more about the information the public was seeking.
3. JB Media shared ad options, including messaging and videos/photos, with lead campaign participants in each county. Participants selected which ads they wanted to run, as well as the landing page for click-throughs. JB Media then put local branding on those selected ads and launched them in each county.
4. The regional group of participants, JB Media, and WNC Health Network evaluated ad performance and made adjustments as needed. We shared campaign performance metrics at the regional and local level with health leaders, and continued to conduct listening sessions with target audiences to learn what new messages were needed.
5. This cycle repeated every six weeks.

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Each phase (every six weeks) had a set of ad options for the entire region.�

County lead:

• Reviewed the Copy (English & Spanish)
• Reviewed the Landing Page
• Selected the Copy & Images

Regional Campaign: Paid Campaigns Process

JB Media would then customize each ad per county selections with local logo (shared prior to launch) and “Learn More” link to a specific landing page or relevant resource.

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Image shown here as an example. �Each campaign had 6-8 options to select from.

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Our Approach to Equity

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The My Reason WNC campaign worked with and engaged rural/underserved, Hispanic/Latinx, and African American communities and our primary tribal community in the region, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, in several ways, including:�

• WNC Health Communicators Collaborative meetings�
• Regional Storytellers�
• Regional listening sessions to inform strategy and test messaging�
• Partnerships with community-based organizations and community health workers�
• Translated all materials into Spanish including copy, graphics, and subtitles�
• “Innovative & emerging needs” funds

COVID-19 Vaccine Community Listening Sessions

• At two key points in our campaign we found a need to refine the focus and/or approach to our messaging. �
• The first occurred with the availability of vaccination for young children, and the availability of boosters. �
• The second point came at a time when we wanted to better understand the specific needs and challenges of BIPOC WNC residents, as seen through the eyes of community health workers in our region. �
• We implemented a rapid series of listening sessions and key informant interviews with the intended result of quickly learning from the community.

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Partner Toolkit

• The My Reason WNC Partner Toolkit was available in English and Spanish to hospitals, institutes of higher education, community organizations, and all who wanted to participate in the regional campaign. �
• The Toolkit included a spreadsheet of links to free templates to create social media graphics, flyers, and more — as well as videos and sample social media copy in English and Spanish.�
• Technical assistance was available for partners in WNC to request support navigating the tools and resources.

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Campaign Results

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Evaluation

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Result 1: Campaign materials reach all residents of WNC.

We reached 1.33 M unique individuals, with 11 M video views on Facebook & Instagram

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We reached 1.37 M people, with 204,799 video views on YouTube

Additional Tactics

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• We worked at the lead-participant level with three community-based organizations to meaningfully engage Hispanic/Latinx and Black WNC residents�
• From June - Sept. 2021, we ran radio PSAs and placed #MyReasonWNC billboards throughout the region, with an emphasis on more rural and western counties�
• We helped coordinate a joint regional healthcare provider letter encouraging vaccination that was placed as 14 full-page newspaper ads that ran throughout the region.�
• We partnered with MANNA FoodBank to distribute information about COVID-19 vaccines through their food boxes throughout the region. �

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Hispanic/ Latinx Outreach

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• Spanish-language ads selected by True Ridge and Vecinos - our lead community-based participants that work with Hispanic/Latinx communities - had the following impact:
• Reach: 148,615 people
• 30,317 ad clicks to learn more
• 881k video plays of PSA videos�
• Spanish language videos had the highest engagement rate and click rate across the board, and had the lowest cost per result.�
• In a May 2022 Spanish-language survey, 74% of respondents who saw the #MiRazonWNC campaign ads said they affected their behavior.�
• WNC ads drove a higher percentage of Spanish-speaking users than average to NC DHHS COVID vaccine resources.

By May 2022, our region reached 51.44% fully vaccinated for Hispanic community members, which surpassed the State Average of 46.18%

Result 2: Campaign materials are engaging

From 12/2020 - 5/2022 throughout the region, WNC residents responded to the ads with 3,645,499 �engagements (reactions, clicks, comments, shares, etc.)�

Across all four of the public surveys conducted, respondents who saw and interacted with the ad in some way were at least three times more likely to report some degree of behavior change compared to respondents who saw the ad but did not interact with it.

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Campaign Average engagement rate�Industry average is 1% - 3% is based on actions taken by reach

48.5%�

Result 3: WNC residents have increased awareness, attitudes, and practices around COVID-19 prevention measures and vaccine acceptance.

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In a May, 2022 public evaluation survey, of the 305 English-language survey respondents who saw the #MyReasonWNC campaign ads…

51%

30%

…said they sought more information about COVID-19 after seeing them

…said the ads affected their behavior

49%

…said they visited the link to learn more about vaccines

Result 4: Local health communicators have increased capacity to create and disseminate COVID-19 health communication materials.

• In a May 2022 survey of lead campaign participants, 100% of respondents agreed with the statements: �
• “My participation in this campaign helped me to build my capacity (knowledge, skills, resources, connections, etc.) to support my agency/facility or community to address COVID-19.” �56% strongly agree�

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�“The campaign helped me as a PIO in a small health department, who wears many hats, to be able to get �accurate and timely information out to the community as well as participate in other COVID-19 duties such as vaccine clinics and testing. I would not have been able to accomplish what the campaign did on my own. Not to mention the quality of materials and evaluation. Definitely would not have been able to elevate to that level on my own.” �

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Capacity-Building

• From March 2019 to May 2022, WNC Health Network coordinated 17 capacity-building trainings for health communicators in WNC, as well as focused conversations to facilitate our understanding of various target audiences.�
• Virtual workshops included Moral Frameworks Theory, Messaging 101, Social Media for Health Communicators, Inclusive Language, and Data Communications.�
• In the summer of 2021, we hosted an in-person COVID-19 Communications Workshop with attendance from community health workers, local health departments, and regional partners. Presentations included: Creating Messages That Change People’s Behavior and Social Media Best Practices for Health Communicators

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Above: COVID-19 Communications Workshop at Habitat for Humanity in Asheville, Summer 2021

Result 5: Participants believe that the collaboration was a positive experience.

• In a May 2022 survey of lead campaign participants, 100% of respondents agreed with the statements: �
• “I felt respected.” �
• “Participation in this campaign was a valuable use of my time.”

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�“I loved participating in this campaign, I felt heard, valued and respected. I think the time was very valuable.”

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“Great effort and I'm glad to have been supported with this collaboration. I couldn't have done a tenth of this by myself.”

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“I would love to see the regional communication campaigns continue. I am a firm believer in having consistent health messaging from one county to another.”�

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Key Learnings

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Key Learnings: Lead Campaign Participants

• The regional approach — including professional support from WNC Health Network (backbone agency, project management) and JB Media (marketing agency) — gave lift to local public health agencies during a public health crisis when they most needed it.
• Regional collaboration resulted in a more consistent, successful, cost-effective, and high quality COVID-19 campaign. It also lightens the load for local health communicators in small, rural public health agencies and community-based organizations, and builds local capacity.
• Our collaboration allowed us to quickly adapt what we were receiving from NC DHHS and the CDC and tailor it so that it was appropriate for WNC residents.
• Our approach allowed us to more effectively reach and engage all communities across our region, including rural and BIPOC residents.
• We are empowered from our experience that we have the ability to tackle any complex challenge that we set our minds to; we anticipate the opportunity to take our shared learnings and apply what we’ve done to other health issues of importance in our region.�

Campaign Participant Survey Analysis, May 2022

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Key Learnings: Our Collaborative

• Icebreakers
• Ways to accept agenda requests in advance
• Editable google slide deck for agenda and to capture notes & next steps
• Breakout groups for smaller discussions and relationship-building
• Periodic evaluation surveys to check in

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Standard Agenda:

• Introductions/ Round Robin – Participants enter their updates on the intro google slide, and if the group is larger we break into groups of 2-3 for an icebreaker
• Regional Campaign Updates
• Discussion Topic: Three break-out groups
• Share back
• Action items

Resources from WNC

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• My Reason WNC: Final Evaluation Report�
• Evaluation Table�
• Partner Toolkit

» Spreadsheet of Canva templates, social media copy, & videos�

• Listening Session Report w/ question guide, templates�
• My Reason WNC Social Media Companion Guide�
• WNC Health Communicators Collaborative: �Background agenda from initial meeting�
• Regional Storyteller Request for Proposals�
• Focused Conversation Guide - Template�
• MyReason WNC Video Library

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Our Vision for the Future of Health Communications in WNC

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“The most important lesson I learned is that if we work together we can accomplish great things. We were able, through Zoom meetings, to communicate and develop a campaign that helped us to engage with our community and keep them healthy.”

• Campaign participant, May 2022

1. Build the communications capacity of local health communicators (LHD PIOs, CHWs)�
2. Expand our infrastructure built during COVID-19 to co-develop and disseminate messages related to health issues that are important in our region�
3. Engage more community voices to enhance our learning and re-shape the future of public health communications�
4. Share our best practice, as well as gaps & opportunities, with health communicators & funders at the state and national levels

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Panel Discussion

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Q & A

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Adrienne Ammerman�WNC Health Network

WNCHN.org/MyReasonWNC �Adrienne.Ammerman@wnchn.org

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