Disturbed by her limited knowledge of childhood depression, a condition that affects six million children, Susan Dubuque, whose son is clinically depressed, pooled the expertise of her fellow healthcare PR/marketing contacts and started what she thought would be a modest public education campaign on childhood depression. In less than a year, her Green Ribbon Power Force has linked with over 300 healthcare PR/marketing pros throughout the country and enlisted the support of the National Mental Health Association (NMHA) and its 330 affiliates.
The inspiration for this task force was Dubuque's 10-year-old son who was suicidal and severely depressed by the time he was finally diagnosed with clinical depression. But the road to recovery for Dubuque and her son didn't stop at getting the appropriate prescription drugs and therapy for this condition. It also included a book by her and her son on the subject as well as a call to action by healthcare communicators.
"I do a lot of speaking engagement for the American Hospital Association's Healthcare Strategy and Market Development, and at the end of my speech I would enlist help for the [Green Ribbon] Power Force.the numbers grew from there," recalled Dubuque, who heads up Market Strategies, Inc., a healthcare PR/advertising agency in Richmond, Va.
Pretty soon a call here and there, and brief plugs at speaking engagements, spurred a groundswell of healthcare PR support and creative promotional energy. Early in the process, Sydney Cristol, former associate director of the American Society of Health Care Marketing and Public Relations, suggested that there be a "childhood depression" day that healthcare marketers could build various advocacy programs around.
That idea triggered a phone call to the NMHA, which at the time was looking for ways to punch up its childhood mental health campaign. When they were asked to designate a "Green Ribbon Day," marketing plans were already under way to promote its childhood mental health month in May, according to Patrick Cody, NMHA's director of media relations. Seizing the natural fit of the task force's objectives and the efforts that were already in motion for childhood depression, the date of May 8, 1997, was recognized as the first "Childhood Depression Awareness Day."
Tapping Into Existing Vehicles
The "Day" gave the Green Ribbon Power Force the media hook it needed to generate hits on a local and national level. Dubuque asked her fellow Force members to seize the PR opportunity by helping to achieve one or more of the following public awareness goals: include an article in their corporate newsletter or magazine; pitch a story to the local media; sponsor a childhood screening program; host a community education effort on the topic; and provide information about childhood depression to primary care physicians.
Dubuque was overwhelmed by the response to her five-point action plan, "I didn't think so many of my peers would step to the plate." In her Tying Up Loose Ends newsletter for the Power Force, Dubuque filled the pages with news of how her colleagues were creatively generating public awareness on childhood depression. In addition to the significant coverage in several hospital newsletters, hospital communicators spread the word to their communities through radio programs, psychologist/psychiatrist speaking engagements, and children's health fairs.
The Power Force also went primetime, landing coverage in national vehicles like "The Today Show," The Washington Post and Women's World magazine.
Next Steps
| The Facts About Childhood Depression |
For 1998, the effort will continue to feed off of donated healthcare PR strategy and partnership opportunities with organizations, but the focus will be on linking with parents and schools through a "Turtles and Dragons" public education campaign. Turtles (girls) and dragons (boys) are metaphors for how adolescent children manifest their depression, either by being sensitive, shy and withdrawn, or aggressive and angry. The campaign materials walk educators and parents through the key symptoms of childhood depression and the resources that are available to them.
Dubuque is confident that the task force's "lean and mean" approach to getting the word out is what continues to fuel its momentum. "[The task force] allows healthcare marketers to step back from positioning campaigns, competing for market share and the stresses of all the mergers and acquisitions, to do something that has a direct impact on health advocacy."
As for NMHA, which has one full time person working on childhood depression, the focus will be on strengthening its ties with national healthcare partners and pushing for expanded mental health benefits for children, according to Cody. (Marketing Strategies, Inc., 804/783-0098; NMHA, 703/838-7500)