Social marketing case study. Promoting Positive Mental Health: the Act- Belong-Commit WA campaign (20052007)

University Degree Business and Administrative studies

Promoting Positive Mental Health: the Act- Belong-Commit WA campaign (2005–2007)

Background

Governments of many developed countries are faced with the increasing rates of mental health problems. Research by Murray and Lopez (1996) has found that mental health problems could increase the global disease burden share by roughly half, from a current 10.5% share burden to a projected 15% share burden by 2020. The outcome of mental health problems and diseases can be implicated with specific personal, social and economic costs (WHO, 2004). For instance an example taken from Donovan et al (2006) hypothetically asserts that depression could lead to drinking in excess or drug abuse which then could lead to a motor accident; anger not dealt proactively could lead to violence towards female partners and children which can lead to physical costs and consequential dysfunctional behaviours; mental problems such as depression can impinge on eating habits and limit physical activity and so forth.

Previous campaigns have focused their efforts mainly on the de-stigmatisation of mental illness or the early identification of those at risk of developing mental illness and those already suffering mental health problems (European commission 2004). Though there are also campaigns aimed at promoting positive mental health, the Act- Belong,-Commit campaign is unique in that it is a community wide promotional campaign intending to get people wanting to keep themselves and others mentally healthy.

The Western Australian Health Promotion Foundation (Heathway) used qualitative research with people of the general public as well as mental health professionals to form a campaign in Western Australia with the purpose of getting people within a community to sustain a healthy mental state by getting people involved in individual and community activities, thereby reducing the climbing risk of developing a mental health problem. The intended impact was individual and community well being. The focus of the campaign was two-fold: To promote ways individuals can improve health through individual and community based activities but also to unify organisations within the community around the theme of strengthening positive mental health.

Evaluative components such as telephone surveys measured the eminence of mental health promotion by asking questions surrounding peoples understanding of mental health and what they believe they could do for their own and others mental health. Also, collaborative organisations were asked to record mental health intervention activities at the end of each month .Also, the extent to which campaigns generate demand for mental health services were also monitored.

Situation Analysis

The campaign has made considerable effort to evaluate both micro and macro- level environments commissioned through qualitative research. The factors arising from the microenvironment include resources, partners (organisations), past performance and internal publics :

Strengths

The campaign was based on the communities own goals and activities alongside trained mental health professionals. Therefore due to the enthusiasm of local groups it was anticipated that the campaign would be self supported.
Past performance data from this intervention can be interpreted as information for future campaign messages and strategies when the intervention is adopted ...

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Situation Analysis

Strengths

The campaign was based on the communities own goals and activities alongside trained mental health professionals. Therefore due to the enthusiasm of local groups it was anticipated that the campaign would be self supported.
Past performance data from this intervention can be interpreted as information for future campaign messages and strategies when the intervention is adopted state wide and possible world-wide.
Feedback from community forums suggested that there was positive receptiveness to the words capsulated within the slogan ‘act’, ‘belong; and ‘commit’.
Local governments and local businesses collaborated with health authorities to ensure continual development of mental health promotions when the formal promotional campaign ended. Identifying key leaders in the community and partnering with them to host activities and events branded with the Act-Belong-Commit message was the essential component integral to the success of the Campaign.
Merchandise resources such as clothing water bottles and stickers as well as paid advertising support and promotional expertise that many organisations did not have were offered to aid promoting their activities under the mental health benefit message.
A $30, 000 media budget for each town was funded which is not a negligible amount in a small town. In exchange for this funding it was generally expected that there would be wide coverage to the public of events being held under the Act-Belong-Commit slogan.

Weaknesses

The publication of Mental health promotion case studies from countries (Saxena and Garrison 2004) describes 35 campaigns from around the world however none of which have embarked on a community-wide positive mental health promotion

Some internal mental health professionals are cautious deeming extra activity as over strenuous in some people’s cases.
The recruitment and retention of appropriate Project Officers in regional areas may prove difficult whose job description included working closely with local groups and organisations to build their capacity to plan and implement events and provide a healthy, supportive environment for participants. Many project officers were new to these small towns and some struggled to settle down and network.

Macro-environment factors have influences including legal forces, political forces and cultural factors.

Strengths

Project officers encouraged community organisations apply for funding through governmental grants in exchange for their partnership.
Culturally, there are growing trends for an increasingly convenience orientated lifestyle. Messages to get active in three domains were at risk of being rejected without effective communication of the benefits of positive mental health. Also a great proportion of society believe..
Today’s technology inadvertently makes public poor mental health practices through popular media : movies, video games, television and music. Such alternate behaviours being advocated are pro drug and excess alcohol consumption. Conversely, improving technological forces give rise to external opportunities as sites such as facebook are social networking tools that help this campaign by allowing for social events to reach out to more people within the community.
For journalists, the primary objectives were to establish relationships to facilitate wide coverage of local events held under the Act-Belong-Commit logo.

Target Audience and Behavioural objectives

The campaign targeted mainly two groups. The primary group were adult populations in regional Western Australia and organisations in six communities that would facilitate activities with the potential of aiding people’s mental health. For example, recreational clubs, walking groups, libraries etc. Another group is the journalists

The secondary target group were children and adolescence in this town whose behaviour is directly impacted by the mental health of the primary target market.

(is there another group?)

Despite pervasiveness of behavioural intentions with regards to people’s physical health, this is rarely the case when considering what individuals should and should not be doing with regards to their mental health. The reframing of people’s perception of mental health problems, from the false belief that it could never happen to them towards the belief that people should take initiatives to protect and fortify their mental health entail.

The objectives as outlined in Hasting’s (2007) were as follows:

The building of individual’s knowledge of what they can do to maintain and enhance their mental health and to build awareness of the prominent contribution that community organisation’s activities had on participants’ mental health.
The encouragement of individual participation in individual and community activities that reduce vulnerability to gaining mental health problems
The rallying of organisations to join the campaign and promote their activities under the extra unifying benefit of contributing to good mental health thereby creating a sense of wholeness within the community.
For project officers to strengthen the link between those in the community dealing with mental health problems and getting organisations to collaborate more with these individuals and other organisations.

Under the Act-Belong-Commit message there were three specific objectives for individuals

Act: keep up or increase physical activities, cognitive activity and social activity
Belong: increase participation within a group activities or join a social group/club and take part in community events
Commit: consign to a challenge

For example a person can Act by playing or learning a musical instrument, belong by joining or forming a band and commit by becoming the band leader.

Such reframing of beliefs and carrying out of objectives entails potential barriers. Although most participation in events and activities aligned with this campaign do not involve fees , activities that do require a monetary outlay may be rationalised as barriers. There are also psychological barriers, for instance the perceived time wasted, undue effort and dealing with potential shyness when meeting new people.

Should the target audience overcome the barriers to adopting the behaviour they will gain the core benefit of good mental health in exchange for participants getting involved in activities conveyed in the Act- Belong-Commit messages. Whilst the benefit offered to organisations were the greater capacity to reach and perhaps go beyond their organisational goals in exchange for promoting their activities under this campaign. The wellbeing of children whose caregivers showed signs of reduced stress and agitation saw a happier environment and consequential quality exchanges between parent and child. In alignment with the benefits to the target groups are the benefits to community such as building a sense of community unity and building a stronger sense of a cohesive community by fostering connections between government, non-government organisations and community groups.

Competitive analysis

Keeping physically, socially and mentally active via getting involved with the community or taking up personal goals and achieving them are attributed to positive mental health. Therefore the competitive behaviour for the target audience were tendencies in society that contributed poorly to the aid of mental health. For instance inactivity or unstimulating activities (e.g. extended television watching or internet browsing) as well as other competitive alternate behaviours such as those that might actually harm mental health such as substance abuse ( e.g. taking of illicit drugs or drinking alcohol in excess).

The audience of this campaign may perceive a number of benefits from the above activities. Watching television or browsing the internet for extended periods of time may be seen as a way to pass time, as well as sometimes being educational and interesting. Television and such inactive forms of pastimes are also usually turned to by those who don’t seek (or aren’t given the opportunities) more beneficial activities. In regards to the damaging activities such as substance abuse, perceived benefits are that some people may feel more accepted by their peers if they indulge in such activities. Others use substances such as illicit drugs and alcohol as a means of escaping reality, however short lived this effect may be.

While these perceived benefits do exist within the target audience, costs are visible to them also. Costs of inactivity include negative health effects, lost productivity and degrading social relationships. Some people associate such inactivity with negative mental effects as well. Substance abuse also has costs that are recognised by the audience. Such associations include adverse health effects, lost social relationships, increased financial strain and a chance of criminal action against those who undertake in such activities in some cases.

Positioning Statement

We want individuals and organisations within the community to see that to keep mentally healthy by engaging in social and cognitive activities are essential to the wellbeing of common, at risk and individuals already suffering with mental problems.

References

Murray C.J.L. and Lopez A.D. (1996). The Global Burden of Disease. Cambridge, MA:WHO.

World Health Organization (WHO) (2004). Prevention of Mental Disorders: Effective Interventions and Policy Options. A report of the WHO and the Prevention Research Centre.

Donovan R.J., James R., Jalleh G. and Sidebottom C. (2006). Implementing mental health promotion: the ‘Act–Belong–Commit’ Mentally Healthy WAcampaign in Western Australia. International Journal of Mental Health Promotion, 8(1): 29–38.

European Commission (2004) Actions against Depression: Improving Mental Health and Well-Being by Combating the Adverse Health, Social and Economic Consequences of Depression. Luxembourg: Health & Consumer Protection Directorate-General.

Saxena, S. and Garrison, P. J. (2004). Mental health promotion: case studies from countries.World Health Organization and World Federation for Mental Health. Geneva: WHO.

Hastings,G. “Social Marketing: Why should the devil have all the best tunes?” 2nd edn, (2007), Elsevier