The document summarizes a social marketing conference on changing behavior through communications held on November 30, 2011. It includes presentations from Craig Lister of NHS Bedfordshire on planning health social marketing campaigns. Lister discusses the importance of understanding the target audience, engaging them early, and providing a supportive environment for behavior change. He presents a case study of a successful NHS Bedfordshire campaign to increase access to dental services that utilized various outreach methods and saw positive outcomes like new patients and increased awareness. The document emphasizes setting realistic expectations and goals when seeking to change complex behaviors like reducing obesity rates.

1. Social Marketing Conference:
Changing Behaviour Through
Communications
30 November 2011
www.charitycomms.org.uk
www.twitter.com/CharityComms
www.facebook.com/CharityComms

2. Planning your (Health) Social
Marketing campaign
Craig Lister
NHS Bedfordshire

3. My background
• Military
• Health and Fitness (Charity) sector
• NHS Public Health Manager
– Obesity lead
– Chair; National Obesity Forum EoE
– NHS Health Checks lead
• A physiologist by trade but…

4. What’s the starting point?
• Identified need (who is your customer)
• Who’s money is being spent, public/charity?
• What’s the opportunity cost?
• Where’s the evidence?
• Oversight and Scrutiny

5. Rationale
• Public Health responsibility is moving
to Local Authority in April 2013
• What are you seeking to change?
• Why?
• What happens if there is change?
• What happens if there is no change?
• Is there equity?
• Nudge, don’t push!

6. Poorer
Health
Change impact
No change line Some
change
Change line
Better
Health Time
Does the cost outweigh the benefit – does this matter?

7. Critical factors
• Understand the message (perspective)
• Early audience engagement
• Remember: We do what we want to, not
what we need to!
• Identify a new normal
• Provide a supportive environment
Supporting
Change programme
environment

8. Case study 1
• To ensure dental services are
available to everyone who needs
them which reflects Improving Lives,
Saving Lives pledge four (2009/11).
– Increase access to NHS dental
services
– Dispel the myth that NHS dentists
are hard to find
– Explain the charging structure and
empower people to challenge

9. Reaching the audience
Direct mailing with a freepost response
option to 195,853 households
Local media campaign
NHS Bedfordshire website, with a post
code search
24-hour dental helpline supported by NHS
Direct
Information in practices (dental and GP)
and in community pharmacies
Outdoor advertising on buses and at
Bedford and Flitwick railway stations
Google adwords

10. Outcomes
• 1000 new patients accessing NHS dental care
• IPOS Mori poll identified highest awareness of
dental charges in EoE
• Establishment of a new mobile surgery
• 50% increase in calls requesting information
• Nearly 1800 freepost slips returned
• > 4000 people clicked through Google adwords
• A total of 16,000 contacts.
• Continued improvement

11. A tougher challenge

12. What are you thinking right now?

13. Identify rationale
• What are we seeking to change?
– Lifestyle behaviours that lead to obesity, specifically poor
food choice, large portion sizes, low habitual PA
• Why?
– Current levels present an unsustainable demand on the
NHS and social care budget
• What happens if there is change?
– People will become healthier and have higher self esteem
leading to further positive health behaviours
• What will happen if there is no change?
– Levels of obesity and co-morbidities will rise and treatment
will become more selective leading to an increase in
inequalities

14. Set expectations
• What is realistic?
– Reduced obesity increase and then reduction, earlier
improvements in co-morbidities
• When can we achieve this?
– 5 to 10 years (localised milestones)
• How will we know?
– NCMP, Health Checks
• Who will benefit (can this be quantified)?
– Everyone as costs are community wide
• What will it cost/what is the budget?

15. Reduce Family Obesity
• What’s your message?
• How will you test this? • Maximise the
• How will you deliver it? value
• What’s the support? • Minimise the price
• How will you assess
impact?

16. Uncomfortable truths

17. Instant reward culture