It

1
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN
SERVICES National Institutes of Health
It Takes Two How Partnerships Help Extend the
Reach of a National NIHL Campaign for Tweens
Patricia Blessing Office of Health
Communication and Public Liaison National
Institute on Deafness and Other Communication
Disorders
2
The Noisy Planet Campaign

• Launched October 2008
• Target audience
• Parents of tweens
• Messages
• Increase awareness of NIHL
• Adopt healthy hearing habits

3
Why Tweens?

• At their developmental age, tweens are-
• Becoming more independent.
• Making some of their own lifestyle choices.
• Developing their own attitudes and habits related
  to their health.
• Still looking to their parents as role models and
  for guidance.

4
Why Tweens?

• Tweens are spending an increasing amount of time
  each day using electronic devicesan average of
  7.5 hours/day (Kaiser Foundation, 2009).
• Little attention is paid to healthy habits for
  tweens by popular media (CDC, 2009).

5
Campaign Activities

• Campaign development
• Formative research
• Expert workgroup
• Concept testing/campaign branding
• Materials production
• Website
• Listserv
• Conference exhibit
• Community outreach

6
Noisy Planet Website www.noisyplanet.nidcd.nih.gov

7
What People Are Saying

• I practice as an ear nurse specialist.  I think
  it is very good teaching material I could use in
  my practice.
• Thanks for your web site. It is very informative
  and easy to navigate. I have printed several
  pages for our church.
• From the things Ive read on your websites
  there seems to be a push toward educating people
  about the dangers of excessive noise and the
  wearing of proper hearing protection. This is
  good, but it seems the real goal should be to
  reduce the loudness at the point of origin.

8
Campaign Growth
181,124 Noisy Planet items distributed
562 listserv subscribers
746,147 website page views
10,809 fact and tip sheet downloads

9
Community Outreach

• Online and print materials
• Conferences
• National Association of School Nurses
• National Afterschool Association
• Association of Elementary School Principals
• National Association of 4-H Extension Agents
• School presentations
• Partners

10
Partnerships It Takes Two!
11
Unique Strengths of Partners
12
How Do You Reach the Widest Audience?
13
It Takes Time to Make it WorkBalance the
Benefit With the Cost
14
Plan Your Partnership Together
15
Partner 1 ASHA Listen To Your Buds Campaign

• Washington, DC concert (1,350 students)
• Glendale, CA concert (1,400 students)
• New Orleans, LA concerts (400 students)

16
Concert Series Feedback

• Students were motivated to receive the message
  through music.  This is a very vital part of New
  Orleans culture that was brought in to influence
  students through learning.  Kudos to the program
  could not have been better.  The lessons for
  students were very informational, and lets hope
  that students will take the message and apply it
  to their lives.  Thanks again so much. 
  Teacher, New Orleans Recovery School District
• I just want to say that my kids are still
  singing the songs from the concert!  They really
  got the message.  Thanks so much!  This was SUCH
  a worthwhile field trip! Teacher, Weller Road
  Elementary, Montgomery County, MD

17
Partner 2Deafness Research Foundation (DRF)

• Made Noisy Planet the cover story for the Summer
  2009 issue of Hearing Health magazine (50,000
  copies)
• Full color campaign PSA in every issue of Hearing
  Health
• Distributed 5,600 Noisy Planet fact sheets at
  conferences
• Developed a Noisy Planet conference booth graphic
  
• Direct mail to 43,400 people and e-blasts (1,200
  subscribers)
• Noisy Planet page for DRF website

18
DRFs Partnership Experience

• DRF was thrilled to be one of the first partners
  of the Its a Noisy Planet campaign.  We were
  looking into starting a campaign on noise-induced
  hearing loss (NIHL) ourselves, but by partnering
  with the NIDCDs program, we were able to
  effectively communicate to our constituents about
  how to prevent NIHL in a way that was
  cost-effective for DRF.  The materials are useful
  and fun, and since they are created by the NIDCD,
  we trust the information they contain.Andrea
  Boidman, Chief Operating Officer, Deafness
  Research Foundation

19
Partner 3USDA/4-H Program
20
Keys to Successful Partnerships

• Keep in tune.
• Respond on cue.
• Share the stage.

21
Conclusion

• Common ground
• Commitment
• Benefits to all parties

22
Comments, Suggestions
Patricia Blessing National Institute on Deafness
and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) Office
of Health Communication and Public
Liaison 301-496-7243 blessinp_at_mail.nih.gov www.noi
syplanet.nidcd.nih.gov