Give Your Promotions a Millennial Makeover
Healthcare-focused holiday promotions must serve a higher purpose than the run-of-the-mill Christmas party or Secret Santa celebration. They not only have to be creative and unique, but sensitive and caring. When healthcare communicators strike this balance they receive the ultimate holiday reward - bringing smiles to sick patients who would otherwise feel left out.
This holiday season will be exceptionally difficult and alienating for hospital patients given our well-publicized obsession with the year 2000 and the extravagant millennial celebrations we've heard about throughout the year. Now is the time to determine whether you should expand your holiday promotions or develop something different. Get your creative juices flowing with these ideas.
Big Red Shopping Bags
Typically hospitalized children are the focus of healthcare holiday promotions because they are perceived to have the most miserable plight - unable to visit Santa at the mall or play at home with the toys which are synonymous with the gift-giving season. But the Society of Memorial Sloan Kettering, the volunteer arm of the Memorial Sloan Kettering Hospital, in New York makes sure that hospitalized adult patients aren't forgotten about during this time of year.
Close to 400 patients are given big red shopping bags (compliments of the Saks Fifth Avenue department store) filled with up to 20 gift-wrapped presents donated by area businesses and individuals. The gift bags have been a huge hit for at least 20 years, says Nicole Limbocker, president of the society, because they allow patients to give and receive gifts. Often, patients give some of their presents to visiting family members and friends.
The gifts are delivered around Dec. 21 by caroling elves who are usually volunteers and staff members. Companies like American Express, Pepperidge Farm and Estee Lauder have donated gifts. This year, a local singer is donating a holiday tape specifically recorded for the hospital's shopping bag campaign.
Bereavement Advice
The holidays can be downright depressing for those struggling with the loss of loved ones. To help people deal with grief during the holidays, The Hospice Foundation of America devotes a special issue of its bereavement newsletter, Journeys, to the difficult topic. Beginning next week, the November issue will be distributed to funeral homes, long-term facilities, advocacy groups and individuals.
There's a huge demand for holiday-focused bereavement counseling because it is such an uncomfortable subject, says Jon Radulovic, HFA's communications director. HFA prints an additional 10,000 copies of the special holiday issue for a total distribution of 45,000.
The newsletter provides tips for how to plan for the holidays and manage the stress associated with loss.
The newsletter and individual articles are available to healthcare organizations interested in providing bereavement outreach.
Holi-Bear Hugs
When hospitalized children in the Midwest wake up on Christmas day they will find special teddy bears that were inconspicuously tucked in with them on Christmas Eve. This is how the Midwest chapter of the Starlight Children's Foundation will spread holiday cheer to more than 2,000 seriously ill children in at least 84 hospitals. Chicago area AT&T Wireless Service stores are sponsoring the Holi-Bear promotion for the first time. AT&T is supporting the effort with in-store displays, full- and half-page newspaper ads and a direct mail campaign to 50,000 Starlight supporters and AT&T customers.
The promotion encourages store patrons to purchase Holi-Bears for $20 each. The teddy bears sport an ear tag that can be personalized with the patron's name. Once purchased, they will be distributed to area hospitals from Nov. 15 to Dec. 24.
The Holi-Bears help minimize stress for kids who are hospitalized during the holidays, says Pam Bailey, Starlight's director of development for the Midwest chapter. The teddy bears are created by Russ Berrie in Oakland, N.J. Russ Berrie also works with healthcare organizations on other holiday promotions by donating stuffed animals for various causes.
The Holi-bears are available to Midwest hospitals in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin.
(Society of Memorial Sloan Kettering, Nicole Limbocker, 917/836-8052; HFA, Jon Radulovic, 202/638-5419; Starlight Children's Foundation Midwest, Pam Bailey, 312/251-7827, www.starlight.org; Russ Berrie and Comp., Helene Guss, 201/405-2568)