In this article, we take a look back at our communications campaign earlier in the year. We are constantly building on the campaign, by attending public engagement events and by securing media coverage – most recently in Digital Health, Health Tech newspaper the Dorset Echo and Lyme on Lime.
Our communications campaign, which was launched on 31 December, was spearheaded by a mass household leaflet drop, which was delivered to every household in Dorset and houses bordering Dorset’s county boundaries (Wiltshire, Hampshire and Devon) and took place over a two week period.
The campaign was multi-layered in order to ensure that our message was communicated throughout Dorset. In addition to the household leaflet drop:
· We also produced a “generic” leaflet which included an opt out form. We made sure that supplies of both the generic and household leaflets and posters were sent to our partner organisations, so that leaflets are readily available in public places including GP surgeries, hospital waiting areas and libraries.
· We also made available easy read, audio and large print versions of the leaflet.
· Our radio campaign was broadcast across Wessex, Breeze and Heart FM, taking into account a recent Dorset County Council survey which helped us to target listeners most effectively. In addition, we placed a banner advert on Wessex FM.
· The dedicated DCR helpline was set up in order to manage opt-outs as well as a multitude of other enquiries. The helpline took more than 300 calls during January.
· Our social media feeds supplemented the campaign and we dealt with a number of enquiries through twitter, we have updated the FAQs on our website as well as providing regular news items and videos.
· We held detailed a evaluation of our communications campaign, interviewing people before and after the leaflet drop across five locations in Dorset. This found a leap in recognition of the DCR of 25% to 45.8%, a rise of around 10% in the number of people happy to share their records and a fall in the number of people concerned about sharing their records.