Results / OCHD – Stigma Awareness
Reducing Stigma: How Targeted Campaigns Improved Perceptions of Substance Use Disorder
Services
The Challenge
Purplegator was hired again by the Ocean County Department of Health to assist in the creation and development of both a stigma awareness survey and media campaign that would help get an understanding of how residents perceived substance use and the stigma of those who have substance use disorder, and how the campaign improved those perceptions.
Industry
The Approach
We conducted an initial online survey of residents in Ocean County to get a baseline understanding of how residents perceived those with substance use disorder, then ran targeted advertising promoting the importance of ending the stigma of substance use disorder, and then ran a second survey after the campaign to see how effective the ad campaign was in raising awareness and improving the stigma associated with those who have substance use disorder.
The Outcome
47.2% of those surveyed after the campaign ran recalled seeing one of the ads at least once, and survey scores improved in many areas from the initial survey before the campaign ran including willingness to work with someone who had substance use disorder, and willingness to have treatment centers in the community. Engagement with the ads across the social media platforms was 63%, and it continued the momentum from the previous project to continue the discussion in the community. OCHD awarded us another project, shortly afterwards.