Educating Two Diverse Audiences about the Prevention and Management of Brain Injury
Objective:
The U.S. Congress’ Children’s Health Act of 2000 charged the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) with implementing a national education campaign to increase public knowledge about traumatic brain injury (TBI). CDC’s National Center for Injury Prevention and Control set out to raise awareness and educate two diverse audiences—physicians and high school athletic coaches—about the implications of TBI and concussion and their roles in preventing and correctly managing these injuries.
Method:
Working with TBI experts, CDC first developed a strategic communication plan to guide the development of materials for physicians. Based on qualitative research findings, CDC was able to narrow its target audiences, develop messages, determine desired elements and formats, create content and materials, and pretest the materials. The final product, "Heads Up: Brain Injury in Your Practice" evolved into a tool kit consisting of clinical information, patient information, and a CD-Rom containing scientific literature and printable versions of the patient materials. User assessments from feedback forms and an online survey revealed a strong need to provide information about TBI to athletic coaches. Using the same method, CDC then developed and pilot tested "Heads Up: Concussion in High School Sports" in five states before launching it nationally. In both cases, partner support has been key to successfully extending CDC’s reach to desired target audiences.
Results:
Overwhelmingly positive user response shows an enormous receptivity to the tool kits by both providers and coaches and an appreciation for readily available, comprehensive information on the topic.
Conclusions:
Comprehensive educational tool kits containing a variety of elements tailored to the specific audience can be effective in raising awareness and educating professionals about important health topics such as TBI.