Pre-Conference Workshops

This workshop will provide an overview of how health communications and social marketing can contribute to health behavior change by exploring the behavior change pathways of knowledge, ability, exchange, and norms. The session will explore case studies showcasing how each pathway has been successfully implemented within a specific community and through a specific program. Evaluation best practices will be shared and tips for setting up a program for success from the time a challenge is identified and a strategic pathway is selected, through campaign development, implementation and evaluation. Participants will engage in exercises that allow them to apply the Behavior Change Pathways Framework and evaluation principles to their local communities.

Intended Audience

This session is designed for professionals involved in the strategic planning, media and implementation stages of behavior change marketing programs. It will be especially useful for communicators who are more challenged than ever to positively impact health outcomes despite contracting budgets, an increasingly fragmented media environment, and strict evaluation protocols.

Workshop Description

The media landscape has changed dramatically in the last ten, five, and even two years. Traditional media channels like television; print and OOH provide broad awareness but are difficult to measure without long-term evaluation studies. Digital media is more sophisticated and measurable than ever but it is also constantly changing making it difficult for campaign managers to keep up with new developments, let alone establish a clear understanding of how best to use digital media to contribute to specific campaign outcomes.

Additionally, it is more important than ever to understand how the media environment works against public health communications goals of communicating the right message to a very distinct group of the right people. This workshop will demystify the media landscape by exploring how to use media technologies in innovative ways that fight media algorithms that were built for commercial marketing goals of increasing preference and driving purchases. We’ll outline our Intentionally Equitable media buying and planning framework that ensures behavior change communications will reach individuals and populations greatest need of support. We’ll break down how to 1) ensure everyone in the audience receives the message efficiently, while 2) ensuring the dosage of message delivery increases as audience needs and risk levels increase.

Workshop Outcomes

Workshop participants will leave with an understanding of both the current traditional and digital media landscapes and a specific checklist of how to develop a digital media plan designed to meet specific campaign objectives.

All participants will receive a **Using Media and Technology to Equitably Improve the Impact of Campaigns Workshop** completion certificate.

In behavioral change health communications, many of those we aim to reach with media messages have a history of trauma. While trauma-informed care is gaining traction in the medical field, a trauma-informed approach to qualitative research is emerging as an urgent need. This workshop will detail trauma-informed research best practices for health communications, including navigating researcher/participant power dynamics, collaborative approaches to increase participant transparency, and facilitation skills that enhance participant autonomy.

The workshop will also cover best practices to minimize the impact on researchers conducting the research, including Rescue’s own guided process. This approach ensures researchers can meaningfully process the discussions they are having with the campaign audience, and can lead those discussions from a place of empathy. Ultimately, these trauma-informed best practices ensure qualitative researchers are eliciting authentic narratives from audience members without continuing or extending trauma.