APA's Public Education Campaign radio ads hit the mark with consumers in Arizona, Southern California and Pennsylvania throughout the month of October, 1997. Calls to the 800 number increased significantly in all three areas. Additionally, referrals made through the 800 number experienced a remarkable increase. Each association, having taken advantage of APA's matching grant program, utilized momentum gained from their ad campaigns to connect with consumers as well as with local companies and other organizations.

Using National Depression Screening Day on October 9 as a launching pad, each association also developed a series of community outreach efforts.

ARIZONA

The Arizona Psychological Association (AzPA) placed $40,000 worth of work stress ads in four markets - Phoenix, Tucson, Flagstaff and Prescott. The four-week ad campaign generated a total of 120 calls from consumers to the campaign information line in comparison to 2 calls the previous month. Placement of advertising is the latest effort in their two-year statewide public education campaign.

Recognizing the importance of partnerships, AzPA staff and volunteers have worked with the Mental Health Association of Arizona to develop statewide programming on mental health issues and policy concerns. This year, AzPA was invited to join the Arizona Health Alliance, a public-private organization that is seeking to enhance public health opportunities in Arizona. As the only mental health member, AzPA has played a major role in influencing the goals of the organization so that behavioral health is a key priority.

In an effort to generate member involvement and community outreach, a call for participation in AzPA's speakers' bureau has appeared in each issue of the Arizona Psychologist in 1997. A press release announcing the Speaker's Bureau was disseminated to over 240 media outlets throughout the state. The release included contact information as well as information on specific topics and areas of expertise for each practitioner.

Relationships have been established with local media through the distribution of press releases, opinion columns and letters-to-the-editor. To enhance their skills, 60 members attended an APA-sponsored media training session at AzPA's state convention in September.

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

The Los Angeles/Orange Regional Public Education Committee secured placement of 126 ads on two radio stations in addition to a print ad that appeared in the holiday issue of Los Angeles Magazine. The work stress and breast cancer ads generated 223 consumer calls to the campaign information line. The month before this ad campaign, 33 calls had come into the 800 number.

In preparation for the 4-week, $60,000 ad campaign, the Los Angeles region significantly updated its databases, and for the first time,the office had a full-time staff member answering the referral lines.

In addition to educating the public on the value of psychological services, the committee hopes the ads demonstrated to current members that their money was put to good use, and that it will help make strides toward generating new membership.

PENNSYLVANIA

The Pennsylvania Psychological Association (PPA) placed $32,290 worth of radio ads throughout the state in October. PPA rotated placement of the work stress and breast cancer ads to enhance their outreach efforts focused on stress, depression and the mind-body connection. Seventy-five consumers called the campaign information line during the four week period compared to 14 calls the month before.

Members of more than a dozen regional Pennsylvania psychological associations distributed mental health awareness brochures and campaign brochures to physicians, attorneys, businesses, schools and churches throughout October. Psychologists are in the process of conducting personal follow-up calls to each recipient to discuss when their clients or contacts might benefit from seeking psychological services for their problems and the appropriate method for finding help.

PPA has also collaborated with Encore Books for a series of public forums in Harrisburg which will include lectures on topics such as stress management, depression and attention disorders.

MICHIGAN (Update):

MPA's $40,000 statewide advertising campaign, which began in September and continued through mid-October, generated 193 consumer calls to the campaign information line compared to 13 calls made in the previous four-week period.

USING THE MEDIA TO GET YOUR MESSAGE OUT - A CASE STUDY

Across the nation, state associations are finding ways to use the media to link with the public in their outreach efforts. One of the best examples is in California where newspaper editorials, letters-to-the-editor, guest columns and news stories are helping to shape public policy and build momentum for legislation that could grant psychologists the authority to write prescriptions.

The California Psychological Association (CPA) is using these tools to ensure that accurate information is disseminated to the media and ultimately reaches the public. This has also helped to establish CPA as a credible resource, which will continue to be important in the months ahead as proposed legislation goes through the lengthy legislative committee process in Sacramento starting next month.

'You need to convince the public what you are fighting for is in their best interest,' said Karen Judge, CPA's director of communications and marketing and public education campaign coordinator. 'One of the best ways to communicate with the public is through the media.'

CPA formulated a strategy to educate the public about the most important issue driving the campaign: access. It became a buzz word that has been reiterated in press releases, fact sheets and editorial opinion pieces written by the association's leadership.

In a press release announcing the introduction of the prescription privileges legislation, state Senator Richard G. Polanco, D-Los Angeles, set the stage. 'This is about access,' he said. 'Not only are psychiatrists rare in some areas, but they are also more expensive, which further limits access.'

The association timed the issuance of its press release to correspond with the introduction of the prescription privileges legislation. Similar press releases will be prepared in California to remind the media that the issue is still being debated and that committee hearings will begin in January.

CPA chose to focus on access because it was a strong pro-consumer point that could be backed up with hard data and would appeal to the public. In California, the association's research showed there were 14 counties in the state that lacked a practicing psychiatrist, the only mental health provider in the state that currently has prescription writing privileges. This telling information was shared with the media through fact sheets and press releases, as well as a state map illustrating the many counties scattered across California which suffer from a shortage of mental health providers. The data has been widely quoted and is helping to justify the need for psychologists to have prescription-writing privileges. For example, in its editorial supporting the legislative change, the Oakland Tribune found the access argument compelling. 'When you stack turf and money against the many people who are devastated by mental illness, you have to come down on the side of the patient,' the newspaper concluded.

While CPA has become an outspoken advocate, it has also taken on the responsibility to educate. Its press releases have broken down the components of the proposed legislation, which, for example, requires 800 hours of supervised clinical training before prescription writing privileges are granted to any psychologist.

Fact sheets have been distributed and have become important tools for concisely listing relevant points in the campaign. For example:

Fact: Across the nation, many states permit non-physician providers - nurse practitioners, physician assistants, dentists, midwives and podiatrists - to prescribe medications for patients.

Fact: The U.S. Department of Defense permits military psychologists who have completed the required training to prescribe medications for patients.

Fact sheets were also used to separate the truth from myth. For example:

Myth: Because psychiatrists already prescribe medication for mental health patients, there is no need for psychologists to prescribe.

This was countered with:

Fact: Many Californians have no access to psychiatrists for their mental health medications, because the counties where they live do not have psychiatrists to write medications. Furthermore, psychiatrists typically charge more than psychologists, further limiting patient access.

CPA also encouraged its members to write letters-to-the-editor and to take advantage of the opinion-page space provided by their hometown newspapers. California helped its members by providing them with a sample letter and sample opinion piece along with fact sheets about the campaign so they had a place to start.

'I think the key to a successful media campaign is developing a symbiotic relationship with reporters and editors,' said Judge. 'By offering to serve as a resource on issues that they need to cover, we can have our views represented in a manner that doesn't appear too self-serving.'

One clinical psychologist practicing in Redding, CA., had a first-person column published in the Record Searchlight. This served as a way to get compelling and relevant information to the public. The psychologist wrote: 'Redding is one of many areas in the state facing a genuine crisis in mental health care. We have just seven psychiatrists serving 76,700 people. By contrast, Beverly Hills alone has 84 psychiatrists - one for every 1,260 residents.'