How Social Marketing Impacted Cardiovascular Health.
Client: Justus-Warren Heart Disease and Stroke
Prevention Task Force
Project: Blood Pressure and Stroke Awareness
Dates: 2003 to Date
Challenge:
North Carolina is often called the buckle of the Stroke Belt,
with cardiovascular health risk factors much worse than the
rest of the nation. To combat this, the state launched the Justus-Warren
Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention Task Force and charged Brogan
& Partners with educating people throughout NC. Particular
focus was placed on people over age 45 in the 62 counties in
NC, specifically those with the highest prevalance of heart
disease and stroke — African Americans.
Objectives:
With a wide array of possible topics to educate on, the Task
Force chose to focus on educating citizens on proper blood pressure
levels and encouraging them to ask their doctor about their
blood pressure. For stroke, the focus was on educating people
about the warning signs of a stroke and encouraging them to
call 911 if they or a loved one experienced them.
Results:
The campaign generated many good results. Among them, post-campaign
research found that the number of African Americans who knew
that 120/80 was a normal reading grew from 72% to 77%. Even
better, the health disparity between Caucasians and African-Americans
in terms of understanding stroke symptoms that existed before
the campaign began was eliminated.
