Transcript Slide 1

Using Social Marketing
Principles to Reach People
with Limited Health Literacy―
What Works
Cynthia Baur, Ph.D.
National Center for Health Marketing
Presentation Overview
• Consumers – Who are they?
• Reaching Consumers with Limited
Health Literacy- Challenges/Barriers
• Health Marketing
• Using the Marketing Mix to Achieve
Success- Outreach Opportunities
Who Uses Products and
Services?
• Patients?
• Audience segments?
• People who need to change a health
behavior?
• Consumers do.
• (This slide and next 4 slides courtesy of
Todd Phillips, AED)
About Consumers
• They have choices.
• They make decisions.
• They evaluate based on needs and
wants.
• They are not passive recipients of
information.
90 million
Americans
would have
trouble with
this.
Definitions
Literacy
“An individual's ability to
read, write, and speak in
English and compute and
solve problems at levels of
proficiency necessary to
function on the job and in
society, to achieve one's
goals, and to develop one's
knowledge and potential."
(National Literacy Act of 1991)
Health literacy
“The degree to which
individuals have the
capacity to obtain,
process, and understand
basic health information
and services needed to
make appropriate health
decisions” (Healthy People
2010)
What is the Truth?
• Everyone has difficulty understanding health
information at some point regardless of their
literacy level. Contributing factors include:
• Complexity of information
• Unfamiliar scientific/medical jargon
• Demands of navigating healthcare system
• Stressful/unfamiliar situation
• Limited health literacy is not just a consumer
problem, but also a “systems” problem
The Bottom Line
Only 12 percent of adults have
Proficient health literacy. In
other words, nearly 9 out of 10
adults may lack the skills needed
to manage their health and
prevent disease.
(2003 National Assessment of Adult Literacy Study)
What is the Connection between
Social Marketing and Improving
Health Literacy?
Consumer Experience
and the “do-ability” of
our recommendations
Who Needs Extra Consideration?
Some groups face additional challenges that
require attention:
• Older adults
• Those who are poor
• People with limited education
• Minority populations
• Persons with limited English proficiency
(LEP)
Challenges/Barriers
• Identifying consumers
• Communication
• Language barriers
• Cultural differences
Identifying Consumers
• You can’t tell by looking
• Limitations to using existing
assessment tools
• No ‘gold standard’ for measuring
health literacy (Parker et al., 1999 ).
Communication
• Information delivery
• Complexity of information
• Information processing/interpretation
• Individual communication/learning
styles
Language Barriers
Los estudios indican que una de las razones
por las cuales los padres que hablan español
no hacen uso de los centros de control de
envenenamientos es la barrera del idioma.
Research has shown that one reason
Spanish-speaking parents do not utilize
poison control centers is due to their fear of
a language barrier1.
1Kelly
N., et al. Effects of Videotape to Increase Use of Poison Control Centers by LowIncome and Spanish-Speaking Families. Pediatrics 2003; 111;21-26
Cultural Differences
• Cross-cultural gaps between
professionals and customers
• Understanding differences in values,
beliefs, practices, attitudes, traditions
• Lack of customer-centered services
• Experiences leading to distrust
How Do We Use Social Marketing
to Achieve Success?
Health Marketing
Health Marketing involves creating,
communicating, and delivering health
information and interventions using customercentered and science-based strategies to protect
and promote the health of diverse populations
(CDC, 2005).
A multi-disciplinary area of practice.
CDC Health Marketing Model
Audience research, Formative research,
Public engagement, Partner engagement
Products:
CDC’s
Research,
Science,
Evidencebasedadvice
Customers:
“The Public”
Customers:
Health profs
Partners
Translating research to practice,
Health communication and marketing )
Individuals
Institutions
Communities
US pops
Global pops
Key Concepts of
Health Marketing
• Focus on consumers
• Understand consumers’ needs and
wants
• Influence action
• Marketing Mix- The four P’s
• Competing behaviors
• Exchange
Opportunity 1:
Know the Customer
• Take a customer-centered approach
• Who will do what differently?
– Who’s more at risk for poisoning?
– What’s the Epi-data for your PCC service area?
– Which target behaviors are most important?
• Who can you influence most effectively?
• What do they want and care about?
• What do they struggle with?
Audience Barriers/Benefits
• Barriers
Consider real or perceived costs, access, confusion,
inconvenience, beliefs, policies, program features,
cultural practices, etc. that stand between your
audience and the desired behavior
•Benefits
Describe what your audience should perceive as the
key benefit to taking the desired action
Statement: If I (do the desired behavior), then I
(get some benefit)
Opportunity 2:
Offer a Better Product
• Involve your consumers
• How can you add simplicity? credibility?
authenticity?
• How can you adjust your program/
system/relationships – not just your
messages?
Is the call-to-action easy to understand &
process? Will it help people make better
decisions about their health?
Opportunity 3:
Improve Distribution
• Choose the right place and promotion
strategies
Percentage of Adults with Below Basic
or Basic Health Literacy Who Get Little or No
Health Information From the Following Sources
Source
Below Basic
Basic
Internet
85%
70%
Magazines
64%
47%
Books or Brochures
62%
45%
Newspapers
59%
51%
Family or Friends
47%
40%
Healthcare
Providers
35%
30%
Radio or TV
33%
29%
Source: National Center for Education Statistics, Institute for Education Sciences
Opportunity 3:
Improve Distribution
• Choose the right place and promotion
• Develop/strengthen partnerships
• Lay health educators/Promotores
• Community-based workshops/Health fairs
• Community organizations/churches
• Hospitals (ED), clinics, medical facilities
• Retailers- WalMart, Lowes, Home Depot
Do your consumers know why/how to
obtain your services/products?
Opportunity 4:
Conduct Evaluation
• Evaluation starts with you
• How health literate is your work
environment? Practices?
• Are your projects based on health
literacy/health marketing
principles/concepts?
• How likely is it that your consumers
will be able to obtain, process,
understand, and make decisions?
Questions?
http://www.cdc.gov/healthmarketing