Building Evidence-Based and Community Tailored Communication Campaigns: Lessons From the HEALing Communities Study

Thursday, April 13, 2023

9:45 AM – 11:00 AM

Location: A311-312 GWCC

Presenter(s)

Jamie E. Luster, MPH

Sr. Communications and Marketing Consultant
The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center
The Ohio State University
Columbus, OH
Dacia D. Beard, MPH

Communications Core Manager, HEALing Communities Study
Boston University School of Public Health
Quincy, MA
Jennifer G. Reynolds, MPH

Associate Manager, Health Communication and Marketing Program
Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU)
HEALing Communities Study, University of Kentucky
Asheville, North Carolina

Moderator(s)

Robin A. Rinker, MPH

Chief, Communication Branch, Division of Overdose Prevention
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Atlanta, Georgia

The HEALing Communities Study (HCS) is a randomized trial that uses a community-engaged approach to implement evidence-based practices aimed at reducing opioid overdose deaths in 67 highly affected communities across four states. One of three core components of the HCS is a series of community-based campaigns addressing fentanyl awareness, opioid overdose education and naloxone distribution (OEND), medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD), MOUD treatment retention, and stigma.

This session will focus on the experiences of HCS research teams and community coalitions as they designed, implemented, and evaluated 231 community-tailored communication campaigns from January 2020 through present. Presenters will share case studies, lessons learned, strategies, and tools to highlight innovative and replicable aspects of HCS campaigns, which include:

Reliance on community-engaged processes and local partnerships to tailor and disseminate campaigns that reach and resonate with persons with living experience, community leaders, and healthcare providers.
Integration of timely, local data across all phases of a campaign, including using overdose data to define priority audience groups, tailor campaign materials, and implement community-specific, hyper-targeted dissemination tactics to maximize reach and drive adoption of evidence-based practice among individuals at high-risk for overdose.
Building local communication capacity through technical assistance, training, and tools that will be publicly available after the HCS ends (December 2023).

HCS campaigns are monitored and evaluated through distribution tracking, qualitative assessments, and surveys. Presenters will use these data to highlight effective strategies for running opioid communication campaigns in rural and urban communities with small paid advertising budgets.

Learning Objectives:

Describe the HEALing Communities Study’s planning, implementation, and evaluation process for conducting community-based, data-driven campaigns that support the uptake of evidence-based practices for reducing opioid overdose deaths
Describe ways local data can be used to improve reach, resonance, and effectiveness of community-based communication campaigns about fentanyl, naloxone, MOUD, MOUD treatment retention, and stigma, including using local data to define target audience segments, improve design of campaign materials, and disseminate messages to reach individuals at highest risk of opioid overdose
Define approaches for evaluating communication campaigns, using key performance indicators, distribution tracking, qualitative assessments, and surveys