Together, we can help everyone to love later life

Malnutrition Prevention Programme: social marketing campaignAngela Boggon

Senior Social Marketing Campaigns Officer

Malnutrition: Social Marketing Campaign

Who are these men?

•Both born in 1948•Both grew up in England•Both married twice•Both successful in business and are wealthy

•Both like dogs

Malnutrition: Social Marketing Campaign

Malnutrition: Social Marketing Campaign

Some key features in social marketing

•Behavioural goal•Consumer orientation• Insight driven• Intervention and marketing mix

01

Understanding the issue and the audience

Malnutrition: understanding the issue and the audience

Malnutrition: understanding the audience

“It’s normal to loss weight when you get older”

“What’s malnutrition? That sounds frightening!”

“Malnutrition doesn’t exist in England”

Myths and barriers

Malnutrition: understanding the audience

Focus group research

The research was commissioned to understand:• Current levels of knowledge, attitudes and

practice in relation to malnutrition among the target audience groups;

• Barriers and motivators to acting upon suspected malnutrition among these audiences;

• The messaging and imagery that resonates best with each audience;

• How best to convey these messages to each audience.

Location 1: South East

Location 2: Midlands

Over 65s not at risk:1 x mini focus group with (female only)

Over 65s not at risk:1 x mini focus group

with (male only)

Over 65s at risk:4 x in-home, face-to-face

interviews

Over 65s at risk:4 x in-home, face-to-face

interviews

Carers of over 65s:3 x face-to-face interviews

Carers of over 65s:3 x face-to-face interviews

Ward and care home managers:

2 x paired depths

Care assistants from care homes and

hospitals:1 x workshop

Practice and district nurses:

3 x telephone interviews with

Practice and district nurses:

3 x telephone interviews with

Malnutrition: understanding the audience

Qualitative research comprised of:

Malnutrition: understanding the audience

Clarity that malnutrition is an issue specifically for older people • Referencing ‘older people’ in headlines and supporting copy• Using images of older people• Signposting to Age UK

Clarity that ‘weight loss’ in this context is not a good thing• Use ‘loss of appetite’ vs. ‘weight loss’ alone

A reminder for carers of the key signs of malnutrition and to look out for change over time

Ways of empowering older people/carers to take action (vs. only going to the GP)• Provide meal/snack ideas, recipes and planners• Inform about alternative sources of advice and support• Plus, for carers – advice on how to raise the issue

A tonal balance between seriousness and positivity

Amongst older people and carers there emerged a number of important requirements in order to develop engaging and effective social marketing, including the need to provide:

Malnutrition: understanding the audience

There was a general preference for photos vs. illustrations/graphic images

Images of older people would be useful to communicate who the campaign is aimed at and to raise positive engagement. Effective images were those that showed older people who are:

• Happy/well• Enjoying their food• Eating with others• Shopping/living without assistance

Images of meals and food also emerged as an important means to raise interest/engagement and as an opportunity to inspire interest in food. Effective images were those that showed food that looks:

• Filling• Wholesome• Traditional• Broadly ‘healthy’ (i.e. not chips, cake, chocolate etc.)

There also emerged a number of considerations around the use of images with this audience:

Malnutrition: understanding the audience

Reflect differences between care homes and hospitals• Staff in care homes are more likely to have a relationship with the older

people that they care for, while individuals working in hospitals are more likely to be constrained by processes and time restrictions

Drive awareness of the seriousness of weight loss and a loss of appetite in older people by clarifying the:• Symptoms of malnutrition, • Links between malnutrition and ill health• Consequences of malnutrition;

Provide pragmatic, realistic advice on next steps and staff to take ownership (vs. passing on responsibility to someone else)

Amongst healthcare professionals there emerged a number of important requirements in order to develop engaging and effective social marketing, including the need to:

Malnutrition: understanding the audience

There also emerged a number of considerations around the use of images with HCPs

Again, there was a general preference for photos vs. illustrations/graphic images

Images showing HCPs helping/feeding older people were felt to be important, in particular those that show:

• The enjoyment of both the patient and the HCP staff member• That feeding someone is not a chore but a right of the patient• Action on the issue so that staff felt they could imagine themselves in that situation

It was felt important that images should be tailored to reflect:• Distinctive hospital and care home settings• Different HCPs in their specific uniforms• Realistic and familiar tasks

Where images of food might be used, it was considered important that it be shown as:• Colourful and appetising • Realistic to the setting

There was also a positive reaction to use of infographics as a simple source of facts/information (but not graphs/anything that might be associated with targets)

Heading of section

02 Developing materials

Malnutrition: developing materials

Co-production and consultation

• Re-contacted focus group members with draft materials;

• Materials went through steering group members;

• Leaflet content went through a dietician and nutritionist;

• Recipes were tested.

Heading of section

03 Campaign materials

Malnutrition: Leaflet targeting older people

Malnutrition: Leaflet targeting carers

Malnutrition: posters targeting older people and carers

Malnutrition: posters targeting care home and hospital staff

Malnutrition: awareness raising graphics for social media channels

Heading of section

04 Social marketing activity

Malnutrition: Social Marketing activity

Community Partners

• Promotion of the campaign:• Display and distribute campaign

materials• Radio interviews and press releases• Promotion on social media channels

• Information sessions at health centres and hospitals

• Engagement with GPs to refer older people to the local Age UKs and to distribute malnutrition materials

• Shopping deliveries, supermarket visits and other innovative activities i.e. cooking clubs

Heading of section

05 Evaluation

Malnutrition: Social Marketing Campaign

Knowledge, Attitudes and Practice Survey (KAP)

• Surveys are being undertaken in pilot areas to monitor the changes in KAP in amongst older people, carers and hospital and care home staff.

• Survey questions were formulated with the steering group and research experts

• Pre, mid and post surveys are being undertaken

Heading of section

06 Thank you