Stage 3: Implementing the Program
Questions to Ask and Answer Preparing to Implement Your Program Maintaining Media Relations After Launch Working with the Media During a Crisis Situation Managing Implementation: Monitoring and Problem Solving Maintaining Partnerships Common Myths and Misconceptions About Program Implementation Selected Readings
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How should we launch the program?
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Should we use a kickoff event?
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How should we develop and sustain media coverage? Partner involvement? Audience interest?
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How should we manage a press conference?
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How should we work with the media during a crisis?
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How can we ensure that our program operates according to plan?
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How can we use process evaluation?
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How can we find out whether we are reaching the intended audience with our information?
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How can we find out whether they are responding favorably to our message and materials?
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Are we maintaining good relationships with our partners?
Before
you launch the program, plan for distribution, promotion, and process
evaluation. Make sure you also develop a launch plan, produce sufficient
quantities of materials, and prepare your staff for the work ahead.
Program Launch
You may choose to launch your program quietly, starting activities on a limited
basis in one geographic area or with just one partner to test the program.
Using a limited approach will permit you to make adjustments before you fully
commit your resources. This can be particularly useful for a large-scale
program or for programs using a new technique or involving a new intended
audience. Or, you may choose to launch with a kickoff event.
Kickoff Event
A kickoff event can create broader awareness of the program and promote
community involvement. Kickoff events are an excellent way to develop
relationships with people who may be willing to get involved in the program.
Scheduling an event also creates a deadline, which will help your program avoid
unnecessary lag time or protracted preparations.
To begin with a kickoff event, you might:
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Plan an event to celebrate the start of the program.
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Tie the kickoff to newsworthy happenings, such as the Great American Smokeout, Talk About Prescriptions Month, or the announcement of the results of a major study.
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Tie into community events, such as sporting events, church activities, shopping mall promotions, or holiday happenings.
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Work with partner organizations to fund events that the intended audience already participates in and that have broad media interest.
To enhance media coverage of your kickoff event:
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Create a news "hook" or angle that makes the event newsworthy
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Use a checklist to track preevent, event, and postevent activities. These may include room arrangements, speakers, expenditures, media kits, refreshments, transportation, equipment, and follow-up actions.
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Inform the media of your event in a timely way. Ask about their schedules, if possible, to avoid holding an event that conflicts with other media activities. Conflicts might prevent you from getting media coverage.
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Don’t forget to include specialized media, such as community newspapers, cable TV stations, radio, health-related publications (the trade press), foreign-language publications or broadcast media, Internet "zines" and Web sites, and organization publications. These media may have a greater incentive to use your story than general newspapers or regular TV stations, and they can ensure an audience at a press conference if the mainstream media don’t show up.
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Launch activities in multiple locales on the same date to make them more newsworthy.
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Create media kits to facilitate accurate reporting of the issue.
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Invite spokespeople who support your program and who may attract media interest.
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Hold the event in a location that is connected to your message and involves members of the intended audience. This might be a youth center for a program aimed at teenagers, a grocery store for a program about nutrition, or a neighborhood where screening will be offered. Make sure the location has sufficient space for the media and their equipment.
Launch
Checklist |
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Are our partners prepared for the launch?
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Have we invited reviewers, gatekeepers, and others who have been involved in program development?
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Have we prepared (or trained, if necessary) our staff and spokespeople?
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Are program-related services (e.g., a hotline, screening facilities) in place?
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Do we have a list of the media outlets we need to contact?
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Are all of our promotional materials ready?
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Do we have enough materials to start the program (e.g., PSAs and media kits) and respond to inquiries (e.g., leaflets for the public)?
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Are reordering mechanisms in place?
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Do we have mechanisms in place to track our program’s progress and to identify potential problems?
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Are health professionals and other service providers in the community aware of our program and prepared to respond if their clients ask about it?
|
Holding a Press Conference
One effective kickoff event is holding a press conference.Your health
communication program launch is unlikely to get much media attention if you
just set up a press conference. News media have many opportunities to attend
events and at the same time are finding it easier to get information
electronically. This means that you must stand out to attract media to your
event. Tying the program’s launch to important health news can help. Such
news could include announcing the results of a recent health study, releasing
new statistics on your topic, or announcing the start of a comprehensive or
multiorganization health program of which your program is a part. Even more
attractive is announcing such news plus having representatives of the
intended audience or other individuals tell compelling personal stories.
The following are tips for planning and conducting a successful press
conference.
Invitations
Be realistic about the media you invite. Local press people and those with whom
you already have a relationship are more likely to attend than representatives
from national newspapers or TV stations. Don't forget the health-related trade
press, which often needs news and will help bolster attendance. Give reporters
three to four days' notice. If yours is a major story, call wire services to
have the event put on their daybooks. Remind the staff person responsible for
contacting the media to call reporters the day before the event to pitch its
importance.
Speakers
Decide who will announce which aspects of your news. In general, select people
for their recognizable names. If they are not familiar with your program, you
can brief them, provide materials, and have knowledgeable people on hand to
answer questions your main speakers cannot. Don’t overlook the
opportunity for personal testimony by patients, physicians, and family members.
You may want to pretape their statements at their homes or in the hospital (you
will usually need a written release from patients). Remember that all speakers,
including patients, will need to be available during the day of the press
conference to answer press inquiries and be interviewed.
Timing
The conventional wisdom is to hold press conferences between Tuesday mid-morning
and Thursday afternoon. However, it is important to know the schedule of the
media you’ve invited. Reporters from afternoon newspapers have morning
deadlines and may not be able to attend a late morning or early afternoon
conference. Try to limit your press conference to 15 minutes or less, including
plenty of time for questions. Emphasize to speakers the need to keep their
remarks short and simple, to avoid scientific jargon, and to focus on the
action you want your intended audience to take.
Logistics
Assign a staff person to arrange a suitable room and any equipment you may need,
including a "mult box" that allows the media to connect their equipment
to the public address system for better sound quality. The staff person should
also arrange for parking, tell people where to park, and put up signs to help
reporters find your room.You should also plan to have another person who has
media experience on hand to distribute media kits, show media representatives
where they can set up their equipment, answer questions, and point out who is
available for follow-up interviews.
Media Kits
At a minimum, include:
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A press conference agenda
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A press release
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Local, state, and national statistics about your issue
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Background information
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Biographies of your speakers
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Reproducible copies of charts or graphs used in your speakers’ presentations
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Copies of other program materials or reports
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Name and telephone number of someone who can be called to answer questions or verify information
To increase the usefulness of your kit to television reporters, include
broadcast–quality stock video (B–roll). If you have invited
non–English–language media representatives to attend, provide
materials in their language (have the materials prepared and reviewed by people
fluent in the language).
Follow Up
Deliver your new release or press kit in person to key reporters who
didn’t attend the press conference. Explain why your news is important.
Maximizing Media Coverage of Your Program
To maximize media coverage, be sure to:
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Know what different publications, stations, and shows typically cover, and which staff, editors, and reporters are responsible for what. Giving your story to the right outlets and the right people shows your understanding of their work and can improve the likelihood of coverage.
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Understand your media market. Some media, such as those in the Washington, DC, area, see themselves as providers of regional or national rather than local coverage, which makes it more difficult for local stories and issues to receive attention. In similar situations, pitch your story with a regional or national slant to increase the possibility of coverage.
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Respond quickly to requests for information. If you are able to give answers or statements within an hour of a request, media outlets will continue to call.
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Provide information the media can use.
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Be honest about your issue, your organization, what you know, what you can do for the media, and what you want from them. If you don’t know the answer to a question they ask, tell them so and offer to get the answer quickly.
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Work personally with the media to help them understand your issue; just sending them news releases or PSAs is much less effective. Provide background information so that when a story breaks they have accurate facts on hand.
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Ask for something the media can give besides coverage. For instance, they may be able to provide data about their audience to help you decide which media to use, or help produce broadcast segments or PSAs, or cosponsor an event.
Support your program’s messages by encouraging media to cover your program
after launch. To get continuing coverage of your program, you must develop an
ongoing relationship with the media. These steps can help ensure continuing
media coverage.
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Make a list of key media contacts, establish relationships with
them early, and nurture the relationships throughout the life of your program. Many people can help you identify media contacts. Begin within your own organization. Ask whether staff or volunteers have media contacts or know media figures such as owners of newspapers or broadcast stations. Outside your organization, talk with partners; people you know at media outlets, public relations/advertising firms, and on the public relations staff of business firms; members of professional associations (such as chapters of the Public Relations Society of America); and people in public relations or marketing programs at local universities. Other sources include reference books in your local library that list local and national media contact information. Update your media lists regularly; using an incorrect name or title can mean the media won’t cover your message.
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Develop a plan for periodic media coverage of your program and
make your program newsworthy. Your plan should include your program’s objectives, the messages you want to communicate to the media (including why your program or message deserves coverage), any promotional activities you plan to sponsor, and a schedule for media contact (when it will occur and who will initiate it).
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Identify and train media spokespeople. It is a good idea to select no more than three spokespeople. Be sure that all of them are providing the same information about your program by giving them written briefing points. The media usually prefer spokespersons with authority in your organization. The person who regularly handles media relations may not have that status. Some spokespersons will be savvy about working with the media and need only a briefing on your program. Others may need training on how to give interviews, respond to media queries during crisis or "bad news" situations, or how to be effective on TV or radio.
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Track media coverage. This includes coverage of issues generated by your media relations efforts as well as coverage that occurs independently. Monitoring all types of coverage can provide important process evaluation data. It will enable you to identify and take steps to correct misstatements and errors, determine the impact of your media activities and whether changes are needed, identify other media representatives interested in your issue, and find out whether your organization is being overlooked. Media coverage can be measured in terms of quantity (how much space did a story get and how often are stories published?); prominence (does it appear on the front page or not?); slant (is coverage positive or negative?); accuracy of content; and type of story (is the story an editorial or hard news?).
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Capitalize on breaking news. When something happens that is related to your program, call news outlets and offer them an expert opinion. If a negative event occurs, take the opportunity to explain how the changes advocated by your organization could help prevent similar problems in the future. For example, when the story about traces of poisonous substances in Chilean grapes received widespread coverage, tobacco control activists used the event to point out that larger amounts of those same substances are found in a single cigarette.
Process
Evaluation Tracks Effectiveness of Media Launch for Clinical Trial Start-Up |
In 2001, the National Cancer Institute
kicked off a large national clinical trial on prostate cancer using an
extensive media launch, including national, local, and Spanish-language press
releases as well as a professionally produced video news release (VNR). The
launch employed extensive outreach to news outlets designed to make the media
aware of the clinical trial. The hope was that these outlets would then report
on the trial and that eligible participants would be encouraged to volunteer.
The following process evaluation activities were used to measure the
effectiveness of the media push in distributing the launch messages:
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Monitoring use of the VNR through Nielsen’s SIGMA® encoding
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Tracking calls about the trial to the Cancer Information Service’s toll-free information line (1-800-4-CANCER), which was promoted in the media materials
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Observing print coverage of the trial through LexisNexis
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Monitoring traffic to NCI Web sites describing the trial
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Surveying each study site about its specific media efforts
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Monitoring the total accrual rate to the trial
Findings showed that the full-fledged media push produced nearly 1,000 print and
broadcast hits in the month following the launch and that the messages were
successful in reaching the intended audiences. Men in the correct age range,
for example, called the 1-800 information line in numbers far exceeding their
usual number. The data also indicated that the media were effective in both
reaching and motivating potential minority participants. Calls from minority
men to the toll-free number were substantially higher than for previous trials
and roughly equivalent to their proportion in the population.
|
Understanding
the Media |
What Do the Media Like?
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Stories with audience appeal
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Issues that stimulate debate, controversy, or conflict
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Stories that create higher ratings and larger audiences
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Fresh angles or twists on issues that will attract public interest
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Accurate background information
What Do the Media Dislike?
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Covering old topics
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Duplicating stories reported by competitors
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Reporting inaccuracies or an incomplete picture
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Receiving numerous calls when on a deadline
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People who persist when a story idea is rejected
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Organizations that believe their story is interesting simply because it is theirs or that convey the attitude that the importance of the story is obvious
|
If a crisis develops related to your health topic, your organization, or your
program, the media will likely contact you. The following suggestions will help
you work effectively with the media in these situations:
Be Prepared
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Identify a spokesperson to handle media inquiries.
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Train the spokesperson to handle routine inquiries, interviews, media appearances, and crises. A professional media consultant can help with this training.
Take Control
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Stay calm. Show your staff and the public that you are on top of the problem and are taking steps to resolve it.
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Respond quickly. Help reporters who call you meet their deadlines and call them if no one calls you.
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Tell the truth. Admitting mistakes and taking responsibility for them is important for your credibility. Crisis situations can work to your advantage by showing your ability to take charge under difficult circumstances.
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Be well informed. Get the facts you need to understand the situation and develop a response.When talking to reporters, focus on the main message you want to send.
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Track incoming calls. Keeping a record of who called, from where, why, and how the information you gave them will be used will give you a list of names to call if new information becomes available (and provide a good resource for the future).
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Say, "I don’t know" when you cannot answer a reporter’s question. Promise to get the answer quickly and follow through.
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Consider preparing a short statement with comments from your organization’s leadership.
Managing
a health communication program is much like managing any other project. Key
activities include monitoring activities, staff, and budget; problem solving;
process evaluation; measuring intended audience satisfaction; and revising
plans and operations.
Your communication plan should indicate how and when resources will be needed,
when specific events will occur, and at what points you will assess your
efforts. Once implementation is under way, however, contingencies may arise.
Periodically, assess whether:
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Activities are being completed at scheduled times
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Your intended audiences are being reached
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Certain activities or materials are more successful than others
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Certain aspects of the program need to be altered or eliminated
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Your expenditures are within budget
You can often correct problems quickly if you can identify them. For example, if
you ask the public to call you for more information, you should provide a
simple form (electronic or manual) for telephone operators to use to record the
questions asked and the answers given. Frequently review responses to identify
inquiry patterns, to be sure that correct or adequate information is being
given, and to find out whether more or different information may be needed.
Process Evaluation
Process evaluation takes place during implementation and monitors the
functioning of program components. It includes assessment of whether messages
are being delivered appropriately, effectively, and efficiently; whether
materials are being distributed to the right people and in the right
quantities; whether the intended program activities are occurring; and other
measures of how well the program is working. Use process evaluation to track
the following:
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The functioning and quality of your program
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Partner/coalition involvement
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The effectiveness of publicity, promotion, and other outreach efforts
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Media response
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intended audience participation, inquiries, and other responses
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Adherence to schedule
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Expenditures and adherence to budget
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Contractor activities:
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Are seasoned professionals doing the creative and managerial work?
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Is the contractor devoting enough time and money to your project?
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Are deadlines being met?
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Are performance and deliverables in keeping with the contract?
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Are the hours billed reasonable for the work performed?
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Are there problems in the relationship?
Examples of
Process Evaluation Measures |
Dissemination
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Amount of time
given to your message by radio and television stations and what the estimated size/demographics of the audiences are
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Print coverage and estimated readership
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Quantities of educational materials distributed
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Number of speeches and presentations given
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Number of special events
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Size of audiences at presentations and events
Response
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Number of telephone, mail, and e-mail inquiries (how people heard of the program, what they asked)
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Number of people visiting Web sites or Internet services
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Number of organizations, businesses, or media outlets participating in the program
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Response to presentations (measured by completed participant feedback forms)
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Number of publications requested and distributed
Audience
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Demographic or other characteristics of the responding audience (to find out whether the intended audience responded)
|
The following are examples of ways to gather the information needed for process
evaluation:
-
Use activity tracking forms.
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Monitor the volume of public inquiries and requests for information.
-
Ask callers what prompted their call.
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Use clipping services to gauge media coverage.
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Gather feedback cards from or make follow-up phone calls to television and radio stations.
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Review telephone responses for accuracy.
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Follow up with teachers, physicians, or other gatekeepers to check their preparedness and
interest.
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Gather regular status reports from staff, contractors, and partners.
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Meet in person or by telephone with partners to review your program’s progress.
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Track traffic to project Web sites.
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Review publication requests and distribution.
Measuring Audience Satisfaction
Audience satisfaction surveys are an important tool for both process and outcome
evaluations of health communication programs. Use surveys to help you identify
the following:
-
The characteristics of those you reached—how well do they match the characteristics of your
intended audiences?
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How the intended audience reacted to your materials and services—were materials easy to
understand? Useful?
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How the intended audience used your materials—were materials read? Passed on to others?
Saved? Were events attended?
Using Process
Evaluation to Make Midcourse Corrections |
By tracking call frequency, one
regional Cancer Information Service (CIS) office found that calls increased
when certain PSAs were run, thus showing the CIS office how to maximize its
promotional efforts. Tracking showed that men of all ethnicities and
African-American women were not well represented among the callers. The CIS
office also found that special promotions increased the call rate among
African-American women, but did not prompt more men to call. As a result, the
office stopped trying to reach this intended audience through PSAs and explored
other ways to reach it. |
|
Note.
From "Effect of the mass media in promoting calls to the Cancer Information
Service," by Arkin, E. B., Romano, R. M., Van Nevel, J. P., & McKenna,
W. (1993). In The Cancer Information Service: A 15-year history of service and
research (Monograph of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute,
No. 14). |
This information will help you determine whether you are reaching your intended
audiences, whether your materials or activities need to be revised, and whether
your materials are being used as you intended. Some managers also use these
surveys to learn what information intended audiences would like to receive in
the future. See Appendix A for an example of a
user survey. The survey example, the Breast Cancer Risk Assessment Tool
Evaluation from NCI, includes a summary of the responses as an example of the
range of information you can glean from surveys like these.
Making Adjustments
The implementation stage will not always proceed as you expect. Materials may be
delayed at the printer, a major news story may preempt your publicity (or focus
additional attention on your issue), or a new priority may delay community
participation. A periodic review of your planned tasks and time schedules will
help you revise any plans that might be affected by unexpected events or
delays. There is nothing wrong with altering your plans to fit a changed
situation. In fact, you may risk damaging your chances of success if you are
not willing to be flexible.
If your organization has partnered with others, you will need to work to
maintain a good relationship between your organization and your partners.
Frequent two-way communication is essential to productive partnerships. If
partners hear from you only when you need something or you hear from partners
only if problems arise, the relationship will suffer.
To keep partners involved:
-
Periodically call to find out how your partners’ work is progressing. Offer to help when appropriate, congratulate them on their accomplishments, and show an interest in them that mirrors the interest you hope they take in your program.
-
Involve them whenever it is reasonable (and they are interested) in your activities, such as special events or process evaluation.
-
Give them regular updates on the program. Some organizations formalize this task by sending out newsletters or reports. Others handle it informally through calls, meetings, or letters. Tell partners about any changes in program activities that may impact their organization.
-
Give them credit in your news releases and other publicity. If you generate a story that mentions them, send them a copy.
-
Share new materials and information (e.g., about breaking stories relevant to their organization).
-
Notify them of program results, whether positive or negative.
-
Share feedback from your process evaluation.
-
Explore opportunities for further collaboration.
Continue to Consider New Opportunities For Partnering
You may have planned to use one or several media, interpersonal, organizational,
and community channels for your program. Before you implemented your program,
you likely partnered with appropriate organizations. Once your program is under
way, however, other organizations may want to get involved, or you may find
that you need a new partner to reach a certain segment of your intended
audience. Partners that have fulfilled objectives may step aside.
Myth: People need the information we are providing, so we will have a large
number of requests for our materials.
Fact: "If we print it they will come" holds
true only if you are printing money. For most programs, effective promotion is
critical to getting materials into the hands of those who need them.
Disseminating printed products is as challenging, and as important, as
developing them.
Myth: Working with the media is more trouble than it is worth. They take
statements out of context, don’t bother to check facts, and care only
about sensationalism.
Fact: Although is possible to have bad experiences
with the media, if you pay attention to your work with them, you can help
foster positive outcomes. Learn which reporters are responsible journalists and
develop relationships with them. Then provide accurate background materials and
offer to check their stories for technical correctness. Respect their need for
stories of interest to the public and try to help them by thinking of positive,
attention-getting angles for your program. If your topic is controversial, you
may want to provide media training for your spokespeople to help avoid giving
statements that could be misinterpreted or taken out of context.Work with the
media to correct inaccuracies.
Myth: When the press conference is over, we can relax.
Fact: The longevity of news can be measured in
days—if not minutes. Single channels or even the entire mass media are
unlikely to reach all intended audiences, and one event or activity is not
enough. Just as health messages need repetition and reinforcement, so do
promotions.Your job isn’t over until the warehouse is empty (unless you
create enough demand for a second printing) or until you have met all of your
objectives.
Myth: We have partners, so we don’t have to worry as much about
implementation. They’ll do a lot of the work for us.
Fact: Partners can help with implementation, but they
are unlikely to reduce your workload. Developing and maintaining partnerships
is itself very labor intensive, and your role in leading, coordinating, and
monitoring program operations is essential.
Myth: If a program is not an immediate success, it is a failure.
Fact: All change takes time. Even the
best–planned health communication programs have to make midcourse
corrections. The information you get from process evaluation can help you
recognize where improvements are needed and get back on track. Each time you
learn more about your intended audience, your own processes, and the barriers
you face, you increase your likelihood of success.
Myth: It is unseemly for a government/nonprofit health program to spend
money to promote itself.
Fact: By promoting your program, you are promoting
your issue and your message. The more people who know about what you have to
offer, the more the community will benefit. Having your organization recognized
lends credibility to your program and will help you recruit supporters,
partners, volunteers, and funding sources when you need them. As long as you
keep the focus on your communication objectives and not on your office (or
yourself!), program promotion is a legitimate, integral aspect of health
communication.
Agency for International Development, Academy for Educational Development.
(1992). Results and realities: A decade of experience in communication for
child survival. Washington, DC.
Arkin, E. B., Romano, R. M., Van Nevel, J. P., & McKenna, W. (1993). Effect
of the mass media in promoting calls to the Cancer Information Service. In The
Cancer Information Service: A 15-year history of service and research (Monograph
of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, No. 14).
Center for Substance Abuse Prevention. (1994). Following specific guidelines
will help you assess cultural competence in program design, application, and
management. [Technical Assistance Bulletin].Washington, DC: U.S.
Government Printing Office.
Center for Substance Abuse Prevention. (1994). You can increase your media
coverage [Technical Assistance Bulletin]. Washington, DC: U.S.
Government Printing Office.
Dignan, M. B., & Carr, P. A. (1992). Program planning for health education
and health promotion (2nd ed.). Philadelphia: Lea & Febiger.
Jernigan, D. H., & Wright, P. A. (1996). Media advocacy: Lessons from
community experiences. Journal of Public Health Policy, 17,
306–330.
Wallach, L., Dorfman, L., Jernigan, D., & Themba, M. (1993). Media advocacy
and public health: Power of prevention. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Wallach, L., Woodruff, K., Dorfman, L., & Diaz, I. (1999). News for a
change: An advocate's guide to working with the media. Thousand Oaks,
CA: Sage.
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