Media Campaigns

Promote Resilience

Coast to Forest Web Library

Media campaigns can be a powerful tool to communicate health information to the public. Below are a variety of different media campaigns focused on mental health and substance use that can serve as a tool when planning your own media campaigns.

Background and Theory

Mass Media Campaigns to Prevent Illicit Drug Use of Youth

This campaign includes:

  • The purpose and types of media campaigns
  • Theoretical models and their influence on health behavior
  • Results from randomized controlled trials in 2013 discussing the connection between exposure to mass media campaigns and illicit drug use

Mass Media Campaigns to Prevent Illicit Drug Use of Youth (U.S. Department of Justice, 2014)

 

Making Health Communication Program Work

This resource includes:

  • Stages of health communication
  • Information on developing concepts, messages, and materials
  • Implementation guidelines
  • How to assess a campaign’s effectiveness
  • Communication research methods

Making Health Communication Program Work (U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, 2004)

 

Characteristics of Effective Mass Media Campaigns

This resource includes:

  • An examination of the messages that can be effectively communicated through mass media
  • An exploration of different media campaign forms being effective with various population groups
  • An assessment of evidence about campaigns that use different media types
  • Evidence of effectiveness of media campaigns at the local, regional, and national levels

Characteristics of Effective Mass Media Campaigns (National Institutes of Health, 2019)

 

Influence of Media Campaigns on Health Behavior

This resource includes:

  • Details on the outcomes of mass media campaigns contextualized with various health-risk behaviors
  • A conclusion that media campaigns have a positive change or can prevent negative health-related behaviors
  • An assessment of what contributes to media campaigns outcomes
  • Areas of improvement

Influence of Media Campaigns on Health Behavior (National Institutes of Health, 2014)

 

Theory and Principles of Media Health Campaigns

This resource includes:

  • Key concepts from mass communication and social science literature to create effective media campaigns
  • Conventional practices used in health campaigns
  • How to optimize quantitative dissemination factors, message design, and target audiences

Theory and Principles of Media Health Campaigns (Sage Publications, 2001)

Substance Use

National or Non-Local Campaigns

Talk. They Hear You: Media Toolkit

This campaign includes:

  • Key messages and talking points about underage drinking and substance use
  • Templates for a news release, opinion piece, and a letter to the editor
  • Newsletter blurbs
  • Steps on how to pitch a story to TV
  • PSA outreach information
  • Best practices for social media outreach

Talk. They Hear You: Media Toolkit (SAMHSA, 2019)

 

Media Campaigns to Prevent Prescription Drug and Opioid Misuse

This campaign includes examples of media campaigns focusing on prescription drug misuse from Delaware, Georgia, Maryland, Minnesota, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Utah, Virginia, Vermont, and Wisconsin.

Media Campaigns to Prevent Prescription Drug and Opioid Misuse (SAMHSA, 2017)

 

National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign

This campaign focuses on educating American youth on illicit drugs. It includes factors of youth substance use, how effective media campaigns should be created, the consequences of drug use, ideas for prevention, and the trends of drug use over the years.

National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign (Office of National Drug Control Policy, 1997)

 

Teen-Targeted Substance Abuse Prevention Campaign Focuses on Digital, Social Media

This campaign focuses on reinforcing the value teens have on their dreams over the influence of drugs.

It includes:

  • Prevention and early action steps
  • Treatment and recovery tools
  • Naloxone and overdose information
  • How parents and caregivers can help their children while being non-judgmental

Teen-Targeted Substance Abuse Prevention Campaign Focuses on Digital, Social Media (Partnership to End Addiction, 2013)

 

Local Campaigns

DBH Funded Media Campaigns

This campaign focuses on Native communities to address teen/young adult substance use by motivating parents to openly communicate with their children. It includes materials for the prevention of suicide, sexual assault, substance use, bullying, and domestic violence.

DBH Funded Media Campaigns (Indian Health Service and Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board, 2012)

 

For Our Lives Campaign

This campaign focuses on fentanyl and opioid education for Native communities. It includes information on fentanyl, how to reverse an opioid overdose, culturally grounded treatment options, how to talk with children about fentanyl, and free materials and resources. 

For Our Lives Campaign (Washington State Health Care Authority, 2023)

 

Friends For Life Campaign

This campaign focuses on educating youth, young adults, and their families about fentanyl. It includes information on fentanyl, how to reverse an opioid overdose, and information on naloxone and places to access naloxone.

Friends For Life Campaign (Washington State Health Care Authority, 2023)

 

Heal Safely Media Campaign

This campaign focuses on empowering individuals to safely heal after an injury or surgery without prescription opioids. It includes healing and recovery stories from other Oregonians, safe ways to dispose of leftover medicine, support to stop using prescription opioids, insurance help, information on the dangers of opioids, and resources for healthcare providers.

Heal Safely Media Campaign (Heal Safely and Oregon Health Authority, 2019)

 

Reverse Overdose Oregon: Naloxone

This campaign focuses on encouraging and teaching employers and others to administer Naloxone to reverse overdose. It includes information on how to obtain Naloxone access, how to safely administer it, how to train staff, the significance of responding to overdose situations, do’s and don'ts, and recovery resources.

Reverse Overdose Oregon: Naloxone (Oregon Health Authority, 2019)

 

Talk With Them Campaign

This campaign focuses on educating parents of youth to understand marijuana and vaping to help create informed, nonjudgmental decisions.

It includes:

  • Facts on marijuana’s impact on health
  • Types of marijuana and vaping products
  • Strategies for communicating with youth and ways to support healthy decision making
  • Resources for additional information

Talk With Them Campaign (Oregon Health Authority, 2019)

Mental Health

National or Non-Local Campaigns

5 Mental Health Campaigns That Are Making A Difference

This resource includes current statistics on mental health in America, how employers are promoting positive mental health, and ten examples of successful mental health campaigns with their rationale.

5 Mental Health Campaigns That Are Making A Difference (GWI, 2022)

 

5 Powerful Mental Health Awareness Campaigns

This resource includes a description of five mental health media campaigns that have been successful at establishing a productive conversation.

5 Powerful Mental Health Awareness Campaigns (Meet, 2021)

 

Bell Let’s Talk: A Mental Health Awareness Campaign

This campaign includes stories from individuals who have struggled with their mental health, conversations starters, how COVID-19 has impacted mental health, and how to remove the stigma around mental health conversations.

Bell Let’s Talk: A Mental Health Awareness Campaign (Bell Let’s Talk, 2011)

 

#chatsafe: A Suicide Prevention Campaign

This campaign focuses on the social media aspect of harassment/bullying and how it can impact mental health. It includes how to navigate conversations about suicide online, how to prevent it, how to recognize it, and how to help others struggling with suicidal thoughts.

#chatsafe: A Suicide Prevention Campaign (Orygen, 2018)

 

Children’s Mental Health Matters! Campaign

This campaign includes:

  • Resources and digital toolkits for families on grief, eating disorders, mental health online, and bullying
  • Activities for K-12 families and kids to promote positive mental health

Children’s Mental Health Matters! Campaign (Mental Health Association of Maryland, 2022)

 

Mental Health Social Media Campaign: Better Me. Better We. Better DIII.

This campaign focuses on the use of social media to communicate benefits of normalizing mental health care and advocacy, aimed at student athletes. It includes resources for different media platforms, DI-D3 schools, and how to effectively engage in mental health promotion.

Mental Health Social Media Campaign: Better Me. Better We. Better DIII. (NCAA, 2022)

 

How Right Now/Qué Hacer Ahora Campaign

This campaign focuses on the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health. It includes resources, toolkits, and steps on how to navigate feelings of anger, fear, grief, sadness, loneliness, stress, worry, and unsureness.

How Right Now/Qué Hacer Ahora Campaign (CDC, 2021)

 

Local Campaigns

Breaking the Silence: Oregon’s Suicide Crisis

This campaign includes a collaboration from multiple Oregon newsrooms to promote awareness on suicide, how everyone is impacted by it, best prevention methods, and how different groups are tackling the crisis.

Breaking the Silence: Oregon’s Suicide Crisis (Breaking the Silence, 2019)

 

Signs of Hope Campaign

This campaign focuses on strengthening Oregon’s suicide prevention and intervention policies aimed at youth and young adults. It includes commonly used terms and acronyms, data and evaluation reports, media and outreach resources, suicide prevention resources for schools, and workforce resources.

Signs of Hope Campaign (Oregon Alliance to Prevent Suicide, 2019)