Engaging communities - empowering residents to 'get the right treatment'
Our behaviour change specialists are working closely with NHS Coventry to address the inappropriate use of unscheduled and urgent care services. The city's A&E services had seen a significant rise in use, with approximately 600 patients on average per day, so this was a key focus for our social change work.
To engage diverse socio-economic groups, we developed a campaign around the concept of making sure people get the right treatment, at the right time, and being a ‘time chooser, not a time loser’. It is all about spending less time waiting at A&E and getting treated more quickly by accessing other services such as pharmacy, GP or even self-care for non-emergency conditions.
Our multi-faceted approach to driving sustainable behaviour change included the creation of an innovative mobile phone application, the use of pay per click advertisements on Facebook and the creation of a supportive video disseminated via YouTube.
Other interactive activities included a touch screen booth that enabled residents to test their knowledge around accessing appropriate services, as well as voice activated pressure pads, which informed them about different services.
To support our social change objectives, this work was complemented by ongoing public relations, radio advertising and outdoor media. We also co-ordinated a series of face-to-face engagement events, where we conducted a survey to track people’s perceptions and attitudes - thus monitoring and evaluating the sustainability and impact of the Get the Right Treatment brand identity.
