SH5001 - Analysis of the ACT FAST Stroke Campaign Report

This report critically analyzes the "ACT FAST FOR STROKE" campaign, initiated by the health department of England to reduce stroke incidence and raise public awareness. It examines the campaign's objectives, key messages, and its relationship to current health policies and relevant research, including the health belief model and change theory. The report details the implementation factors, including the target audiences, funding, and media choices. It evaluates the campaign's effectiveness, identifying strengths and weaknesses, and comparing it to other stroke awareness initiatives. The analysis covers the advantages and disadvantages of the chosen promotional strategies, including both online and offline media. The report also includes recommendations for improving future health campaigns and provides insights into the campaign's reach and impact.

Running head: HEALTH PROMOTION AND POLICY
Health promotion and policy
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author note

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Introduction
The key idea and objective of the chosen campaign is to reduce the rate of
stroke incidences and creating awareness among the public in order to reduce the
future probability. In the current state of affairs, stroke and heart attacks are one of the
most common and prominent health issues. There are hundreds of cases getting
notified for strokes and heart attacks on daily basis across world. Moreover, with the
increase in the social and workplace pressure, people are getting more vulnerable
towards strokes. In this case, the chosen campaign will be effective in reducing the
impact of strokes along with the reduction in the future emergence probability (Vergeer,
Hermans and Sams 2013). There are number of mediums through which the
department of health, England is promoting their campaigns. In this case also, the “ACT
FAST FOR STROKE” campaign will be effective in getting connected and engaged with
the public. Moreover, this campaign will be effective in initiating live discussion between
the experts and the public, which is help in generating more practical information. The
overall purpose of this campaign is to create awareness among the people in regards to
strokes and how they can be avoided. In addition, the campaign also aims at educating
the public regarding how to detect the early symptoms of strokes in order to minimize its
health impact (Gulati and Williams 2013).
The key message of the chosen campaign includes discussion of the stressors
that can cause strokes and the possible measures to be taken. The message of the
campaign is informative in nature in order to aware the public about the different
aspects of combating with strokes. The message of this campaign also includes
conveying the importance of healthy lifestyles and how it can be beneficial for the
individuals in dealing with the health issues (Evans-Lacko et al. 2013). Thus, it can be
concluded that the message of the campaign involved different important and major
elements in relation to strokes and other health issues due to stress. The public can be
communicated with all the required information in educating them about the strokes.
This campaign is related with the current health policies by sourcing the
evidences from the WHO and NHS England. This is helping the campaign is being
based on the practical and authentic data and statistics. WHO is the global authoritative

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body of health, while NHS is the health council in the United Kingdom. Thus, designing
the campaign on the basis of data from them is helping in staying related with the
current health policies. NHS is responsible for introducing the health policies in England
and their data will be beneficial for staying related with the current health policies in the
country. In the recent time, the majorities of the researches are being done over health
belief and change management process (Dombrowski et al. 2015). This is due to the
reason that the health sector in the country is witnessing huge changes with the
development of different areas such as technologies. This approach of this campaign is
based and underpinned by the health belief model and change theory. Thus, it can be
concluded that this campaign is related to the recent relevant research.
This analysis report will discuss about the implementation factors of the
campaign including each of the important factors. The activities required in the
implementation plan will also be critically analyzed in reviewing their effectiveness. In
addition, critical analysis will also be done over the effectiveness of the entire campaign.
This will include the identification of the strengths and weaknesses along with the
identification of the long term effectiveness of the campaign. Based on the above
factors, a few recommended steps will be discussed.
Implementation of the campaign
This campaign is being initiated by the health department of England as they are
the governing body of initiating any health related activities. The major advantage that is
being gained by this approach is the considerations of all the related factors. Being the
governing body, department of health of England is being able to include all the relevant
factors important in ensuring the success of the campaign. There are two target
audiences for the initiated campaign with one being the people with higher risk of
stroke. This audience is being targeted by providing them assistances in mitigating the
chances (Harrison et al. 2013). On the other hand, another target segment for this
campaign is the individuals who are recovering from it. The required assistances are
being offered to them in dealing with the aftermath of stroke. The major advantage that
is being gained by targeting the different segments is covering the larger parts of the
society. Thus, the impact and the influence of the campaign is more in the society.

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It is identified that the time span of the campaign was between February 2009
and March 2012. Thus, 3 years were the total time involvement for the campaign that is
expected to be enough for achieving the objectives of the campaign. In terms of the
funding process, it is identified that the program as funded by the national institute of
health research and United Kingdom clinical research collaboration. The estimate cost
was £105. Involvement of both the entities in funding the campaign helped in incurring
lower cost by each one of them. Thus, the associated financial risks were less for each
of the entities. The funding is further allocated to the different activities including the
media choice, stakeholder management and communication process. It is also identified
that the theoretical underpinnings of the campaign are related to the health belief model
and change theory (Ragoschke-Schumm et al. 2014). According to the health belief
model, prediction of the health related behaviors is important for initiating the health
services. This will be important for the campaign due to the reason that the based on
the feedback from the external stakeholders involved with this campaign, the long term
health services can be designed. In addition, this model states that the belief of the
people regarding the health problems, benefits of the mitigation strategies and the
probable barriers. Thus, in the case of this campaign, underpinning this model is helping
the involved entity in gaining the external social insights regarding strokes. With the help
of this model, the health department of England is being able to identify the potential
barriers and design their future health programs accordingly.
On the other hand, underpinning the change theory is also being beneficial for
heath department of England. This is due to the reason that health sector is witnessing
huge change in terms of the health issues and social trends. For example, the approach
of the public towards dealing with the issues such as strokes is getting changed with
time and it is important for the health department to design their health services
accordingly. Thus, with the underpinning of the change theory, this campaign can be
made more flexible in coping up with the changes in the external environment
(Dombrowski et al. 2013). In terms of the partnerships, it is identified that this campaign
is partnered with different healthcare facilities, NHS, and public healthcare services.
This denotes that this campaign is having extensive partnerships with different entities.
One of the major advantages of having partnerships with different institutions is helping

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in enhancing the reach and coverage of the campaign. Each of the partnered entities
are having establishment in different regions and causing the campaign to get launched
in countrywide basis. Moreover with the involvement of number of partners, the inputs
and expertise in the campaign are more and is beneficial for future development.
In terms of the choice of media, it is identified that the campaign involves both
online and offline media. Offline media includes television, newspaper and pamphlets
and on the other hand, facebook, twitter and other social media platforms. Thus,
involvement of both mediums is beneficial for the campaign in achieving further reach.
In addition, it should be noted that involvement of different mediums is helping in
targeting the different sections of the society. For example, younger generation is more
vulnerable towards strokes and heart attacks (Boden-Albala and Quarles 2013). This
segment can be targeted with the help of the social media marketing. The campaign is
evaluated on basis of attendance of the external stakeholders in the campaign. Thus,
the more will be the attendance of the people in the campaign, the more will be the
success and vice versa.
Evaluation and critical analysis of the campaign
This choice of mediums for the promotion of the campaign is having both
advantage and disadvantages. One of the major advantages of the Omni Channel
promotional strategy for this campaign is the larger market coverage. This is due to the
fact that the more will be the involvement of different mediums; the more target areas
can be catered. For example, younger generations can be targeted with the help of the
online mediums more effectively. This is due to the reason that younger generations are
stay active more in the social mediums. On the other hand, involvement of the print and
television mediums is effective in targeting the older generations as the older aged
people are not comfortable in the social media platforms (Fassbender et al. 2013).
Hence, it can be concluded that initiation of both online and offline mediums for this
campaign is benefiting to have the greater reach among the targeted audience. Another
advantage of the choice of mediums of this campaign is the involvement of the two
ways communication channels. This is due to the reason that with the help of the social
media strategy, audiences are engaged in the communication process and their

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feedback can also be gathered. Thus, considerations of the external social factors are
more for this campaign.
However, it should also be noted that apart from the advantages, there are few
disadvantages also being identified for the existing choice of mediums of this campaign.
The major disadvantage of this campaign is the dilution of the subject due to the
involvement of number of mediums. Currently, the campaign is using different mediums,
which is having higher probability of the subject content getting diluted. This will affect
the attractiveness of the entire communication strategy. For example, if the subject
being communicated through the online and offline mediums is different, then the risks
will be more (Bethune et al. 2013). In addition, it should be noted that absence of the
email and personalized communication mediums is another disadvantage. This is due
to the reason that in the case social marketing, personalized communication strategy is
important for engaging with the customers. The impact and intensity of stroke is
different for different individuals and thus communicating with them in personalized
manner will be effective. This is another limitation of the current promotional strategy of
the campaign being identified.
There are number of campaigns in relation to the mitigation and avoidance of
strokes was initiated in the recent past. However, there are few differences between
these campaigns and the chosen one in this report. One of the major differences is the
reach in the community. Most of the other campaigns being initiated are having limited
reach in the market. This is mainly due to the reason of the diverse mediums being
used for the promotion coupled with the involvement of different partnerships. In the
above section, it is already identified that NHS of different regions of the United
Kingdom along with the health service entities are involved in the campaign (Mellon et
al. 2016). This is also increasing the reach and effectiveness of the campaign. In the
past, there are no other campaigns have involved these numbers of partnerships as in
the case of this campaign. Another difference is involving the already affected
individuals. This is due to the fact that no other campaigns in the past have involved
both the potential segments for strokes and those who have already being affected at
once. While in the case of this campaign, both the audiences are being targeted, which

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will only increasing the effectiveness. The involvement of the patients who are already
being affected by strokes is only increasing the utility of the campaign and target
audiences. No other campaign in the past has involved both the aspects as being done
by the chosen campaign.
Critical analysis of the campaign helped in identifying a few strengths and
weaknesses. One of the major strengths of this campaign is the partnerships with
different health service providers. This is helping the campaign in getting the support of
different established entities. It should be noted that NHS in England is the leading
healthcare service providers and partnership with them is enhancing the effectiveness
of the campaign along with considering all the relevant factors. Another strength of this
campaign identified is the purpose. This is due to the reason that the purpose of the
campaign is to create awareness about the risks of strokes and heart attack and
motivating the public in taking up healthy lifestyles (Droste et al. 2014). Thus, the future
and long term viability of the campaign is more compared to the present effectiveness.
In addition, it is also ensuring the fact that this campaign will have greater recall among
the target audience in the long term. The theoretical underpinnings associated with this
campaign are also their strength due to the fact that it is ensuring that the campaign is
flexible and practical enough. Involvement of the health belief model in the campaign is
helping to determine the needs and trends in the market and design the health services
accordingly. On the other hand, the involvement of the change theory is ensuring their
flexibility in coping up with the changes in the society.
There are few weaknesses also being identified for this campaign with the major
weakness being the limited cost allocation. It is identified that the funding being done for
this campaign is limited and may not be enough to drive the year’s long activities. Thus,
with the lack of adequate funding, the effectiveness and efficiency of the campaign will
get reduced along with their market reach. Another major weakness being identified for
this campaign is the lack of use of proper performance indicators in the evaluation
process. This is due to the reason that only the participation of the public is being
considered as the performance indicators. This is limiting their opportunity of analyzing
the performance of the campaign from different perspectives.

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As per the information gathered, it is identified that the campaign is effective
enough in terms of achieving their objectives. It is identified that the campaign covered
more than 50 percent of the social media in the region and more than 1.2 million people
within the first 6 months. In addition, it is also identified that more than 45 percent of the
people responses positively about the utility and effectiveness of the campaign. These
people got the pamphlets and awareness advertisements. Thus, it can be concluded
that the campaign is effective enough in changing the mindsets and awareness of the
people. If the 45 percent of the targeted region can be covered within the first 6 months,
then the 3 years program will be able to cover the entire region.
The campaign would have been more effective if the performance indicators can
be involved from different perspectives. This is due to the reason that the more will be
the diversity in the selection of the performance indicators, the more will be the
effectiveness of the evaluation process. For example, apart from the existing evaluation
metrics of determination of the participating members, if the feedback from them can be
considered as the qualitative data, it will increase the effectiveness of the evaluation
process. Generating qualitative feedback from the individuals will ensure that different
factors that are majorly being ignored are identified.
Conclusion
This can be concluded that the aims and objectives of the campaign are effective
enough to initiate change in the market. As discussed in this report, the involvement of
the patients already suffered from strokes and the potential segments is helping in
covering the larger areas and create greater change in the society. It is also identified in
this report that the objectives of this campaign are being achieved partially due to the
fact that 45 percent of the total region is covered. However, it should also be noted that
this 45 percent of the region is covered within the first 6 months, which is commendable.
Thus, it can be concluded that the campaign is effective enough and considering its
present performance, it is well expected that the objectives will achieved within the
expected timeframe. In addition, the critical analysis of this campaign also identified that
there are few weakness and strengths evident. These positive and negative factors are
critically analyzed in this report. This report concludes that if the identified limitations of

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this campaign can be mitigated, then the time consumed in achieving the objectives will
be lower and will be more effective.
Recommendations
Based on the evaluation and critical analysis of the report, it is recommended
that in the future, similar campaigns should be designed based on the major trends in
the society. This is due to the reason that if the major trends can be considered in the
campaign, then the effectiveness will also be more. For example, in the case of this
campaign, the major trend of strokes in the current time is being considered. Thus, the
future campaigns should also follow this approach to achieve the greater utility in the
society. In addition, it is also recommended that the future campaign should be
evaluated from different perspectives and performance indicators. This will ensure that
the effectiveness of the campaign can be determined on the basis of different
perspectives and factors. The future campaign should be also careful about the choice
of the media. This is due to the reason that the media should be selected based on the
major trends in the market. The media should be selected on the basis of the
preferences of the target segments and the level of penetration.

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