Campaign Title:
How Right Now
Produced For:
CDC Foundation
Produced By:
NORC at the University of Chicago
Topics:
Social and Emotional Wellness
Audiences:
Adults, Black/African American, Asian or Asian American, Blue Collar Workers, Females, Hispanic/Latino, Males, Older Adults, Gay/Lesbian/Bisexual/Transgender , General Audiences, American Indians, Homeless/Transient, Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, People with Disabilities, People with Mental Illness/Substance Abuse Conditions, Rural populations, Service-industry employees , Uninsured/Underinsured , Urban populations, WIC/SNAP recipients, Partners (i.e. community based organizations, hospitals etc.), Alaska Natives
Goals:
To address mental health and emotional well-being of at-risk populations to improve resilience at the individual community levels.
Strategy:
These materials support the How Right Now initiative and depict individuals both dealing with the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and participating in activities that foster resilience and adaptability. The initiative aims to create change by acknowledging individual experiences, modeling desired behaviors, and linking to the initiative website which offers a variety of coping resources. For more information on How Right Now, visit www.howrightnow.org.
Results:
Several rounds of message and visual testing for this initiative was conducted with both partner organization and priority audiences. The research helped to elucidate what information and resources audiences need, what is available, what they report needing to be resilient, and who they trust to provide emotional health information at this time amid COVID-19. Key findings relevant for developing a thoughtful, empathetic communication messages are as follows: 1) validate audience experiences, 2) acknowledge the reality and seriousness of COVID-19 and the range of experiences and needs across audiences, 3) normalize people’s worry, stress, and reactions (‘it’s OK to not be OK’), 4) provide actionable, low investment things to do to cope during this time, 5) avoid being overly prescriptive and focus on positive messages, 6) provide connection to information and support, and 7) be culturally and linguistically appropriate.
