Update on APA's Public Education Campaign

Tricia Alvarez, Practice Directorate

Fueled by the interest and enthusiasm of practitioners nationwide, the APA Practice Directorate and the Office of Public Communications launched a national public education campaign in February 1996.

The primary goal of the "Talk to Someone Who Can Help" campaign is to educate consumers, along with health care policy-makers and opinion leaders, about the value of psychological services. The campaign's primary messages reflect the results of consumer focus groups and a public opinion-survey undertaken by APA, as well as input from a broad base of psychologists.

The survey, in particular, provided detailed information on what American adults perceive as the lack of available information and access to psychological services. For instance, the vast majority of Americans understand the importance of psychological health in maintaining good overall health, while half wish they knew more about when to seek professional help for emotional problems, and more then two-thirds do not know how to find help for these problems.

A free campaign kit which contains a summary of the research, along with community outreach, media and advertising tools are available to all practitioners by calling the campaign's toll free number (1-800-964-2000). More than 2,000 campaign kits have been distributed to date.

ACTION in the Field: State Associations and Divisions Begin Campaign Implementation

Since the campaign's kick-off, state, regional and local psychological associations, and APA divisions have moved forward with campaign implementation. More than fifty campaign coordinators in forty-two states are serving as catalysts for activities in their areas. Following is a sampling of the diversity of actions being undertaken:

Divisions Raise Funds for Campaign Advertising

Presidents from 19 APA practice divisions recently united in a national effort to raise funds through individual contributions to support the campaign's advertising effort.

Funds were used to place 53 television spots on WJLA (ABC Affiliate) in Washington, D.C., a half-page ad in the Washingtonian, and a quarter-page ad in The Washington Post Health section in March to encourage and complement campaign activities in Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia. As a result of the advertising, 110 calls were made to the campaign's 800# in the DC, Maryland and Virginia areas.

Colorado and Connecticut

To demonstrate the effectiveness of local advertising placement, APA ran television, radio and print advertising in Denver, Colorado and Hartford, Connecticut as part of the 1996 campaign launch.

More than 680 consumers in Colorado called the toll-free campaign information line for referral, a brochure, or both.

Ads in Connecticut spurred 830 calls from consumers requesting a referral, a brochure, or both.

Both associations reported receiving a significant increase in the number of media requests for interviews with psychologists.

Actual referrals in Connecticut were up 100 percent from the months preceding the placement of advertising.

Actual referrals in Colorado nearly quadrupled as a result of advertising.

The Colorado and Connecticut Psychological Associations have also seen heightened interest and involvement from their committees. Since the campaign began, Colorado Psychological Association membership has increased by 40 percent. Connecticut's professional affairs committee is planning outreach activities targeting legislators and their staff members using the campaign's tools.

Arizona and New Hampshire

Arizona and New Hampshire Psychological Associations have each found a unique way to implement the campaign locally. In a letter to its members last fall, the Arizona association launched a fundraising drive aimed at members to allow them to take the campaign's advertising campaign to consumers of psychological services throughout Arizona. To date, more than $25,000 has been raised and there are plans to apply for an APA matching grant, which, if successful, could mean matching funds of up to $50,000 for the state's advertising campaign. The association has also set up campaign task forces in Tucson, Flagstaff and Prescott to carry out campaign strategies throughout the state.

New Hampshire has focused its initial efforts on outreach to physicians and state and elected officials by sending letters and brochures for waiting rooms to family physicians and inviting 400 state representatives to a workshop on gambling addictions prior to the state's consideration of expanding gambling in that state.

California and Texas

Psychologists in California and Texas met consumers on their own turf in October by partnering with Borders Book Stores during National Depression Screening Day for a unique community outreach effort.

New Jersey

New Jersey kicked-off it's state-wide public education campaign recently at an event called Focus on the Family, in collaboration with Overlook Hospital in Summit, according to Jodi Erdman, education and outreach coordinator for the New Jersey Psychological Association (NJPA).

With a signed proclamation from the Governor declaring May as "Psychological Health Awareness Month," the event featured Judith Viorst, author of Necessary Losses, as well as eight workshops dealing with issues such as parenting teenagers and new approaches to stress management presented by NJPA members.

The local hospital has proven to be an invaluable partner in the campaign by funding advertising and publicity efforts, and co-authoring a brochure with NJPA that will be sent to more than 25,000 people on its mailing list.

The partnership with Overlook, which has given significant impetus to the statewide launch, is the result of NJPA "Council on Psychological Health in our Communities" Chair Rosalind Dorlin's work and ongoing affiliation with the hospital. "Nearly all of our connections have been established because our members knew someone in the community - or in this case at the hospital," Erdman said. "Members are our greatest resource."

Establishing a campaign infrastructure was the first step in organizing for New Jersey's Campaign. In March 1996, NJPA formed a "Council on Psychological Health in Our Communities" and identified five subcommittees: Advertising/Fundraising; Media Relations; Program Development; Community Outreach; and APA Liaison. Each committee was responsible for specific tasks. The Council contacted all affiliated county psychological associations - a network that was already in place - and talked about the importance of the campaign. "We did mailings to our affiliates, attended their monthly meetings, and publicized our efforts to more than 2,400 NJPA members through our newsletter," Erdman said. "We were able to extend our reach dramatically," she said, "by bringing the campaign down to the local level and closer to people. And it's mushrooming every day."

Once the basic campaign organization was in place, the Council prepared a proclamation and submitted it to the Governor for signature. With only a couple of follow-up phone calls placed directly to the Governor's office, May was declared "Psychological Awareness Month" throughout the state of New Jersey. The Governor, along with other key local decision-makers in the community, attended the launch event.

As part of its continuing effort, NJPA is seeking opportunities to submit articles for publication in corporate employee newsletters, including local branches of Exxon Research and Engineering, Inc., the New Jersey Education Association and others. Another effort targets community fairs and other existing events. New alliances with hospitals statewide are also in development.

Campaign Advertising Assistance Program

To help strengthen public education campaign efforts, APA launched a special Campaign Advertising Assistance Program earlier this year. This program is intended to enhance the overall campaign by helping to support local advertising placement through a matching grant. Thus far, APA has approved grants for the Michigan and New York Psychological Associations, as well as the Los Angeles/Orange Regional Network for Marketing and Public Education (a coalition of five chapters of the California Psychological Association.)

"Because advertising is such a critical, yet costly, aspect of our public education campaign, we felt these matching grants would spur local fundraising efforts and enhance the overall effectiveness of the local campaigns," said Cindy Yeast, assistant executive director for public relations and communications of APA's Practice Directorate. "However, to be approved for the grant, local associations must demonstrate that they are implementing at least two other campaign activities to support the advertising placement and further reinforce the impact of the campaign messages."

If a psychological association or division meets all program requirements, APA will match funds raised by the organization for the purpose of purchasing placement of APA public education campaign advertising. Although Yeast noted funds would be matched up to $50,000, the average matching grants are expected to be between $15,000 and $25,000. A total of $300,000 has been made available by APA for the 1997 grants.

Jeff McKee
Saturday, April 25, 1998