Catch It Bin It Kill It - Essay Example

? Catch it! Bin it! Kill it! NHF, in collaboration with the UK government, has always been extremely active in dealing with health related issues. This includes not only arranging for the needed stock in case of an outbreak of a disease, but also making the right communication and creating awareness among the masses so that they can protect themselves on an individual basis. Arranging for stock includes not only making sure that the right set of medicines and vaccines are in place, and in right number; but it also comprises of making sure that all the caretakers like doctors, surgeons, and the like are protected and informed and thus, they are ready to deal with the increasing number of patients (NPS, 2011). The second aspect of NHS, as mentioned earlier, is communicating the problem to the public and making sure that they are aware of the issue in hand properly. Communicating the problem or increasing awareness becomes extremely critical in situations in which the problem at hand is risky, and taking action is urgent. Not dealing with or not communicating such a problem properly can lead to creating a hype among the public, and making the people who are not at risk of the problem worry about the problem, too. This is what has been named as the “worried well” people. Therefore, an important responsibility that government or any other concerned organization has is to communicate properly (House of Lords Select Committee on Communications, 2008-2009). Let the paper precisely see what does communicate properly mean. Firstly, it deals with deciding upon the target group or the group with the maximum level of risk. Selecting the right target group is critical as the later steps depend upon it. Next step includes a well researched and a well thought-out script or content to be delivered. For this purpose, the organization needs to conduct a proper research and collect as much information about the problem in hand as possible. This includes deciding upon the research methodology and making sure that the right people conduct the research. The third important thing is to decide upon the communication channels i.e. deciding upon whether to use T.V., newspapers, pamphlets etc. It is important that the communication channels chosen be relevant with the target group selected. A mismatch in the communication channel and target group would lead to a total failure, as the message would not reach where it is supposed to reach. The last and an equally important thing is collecting feedback on the impact or effect of the communication made, and taking corrective measures if necessary. In other words, it includes checking out progress of the campaign periodically. Presence of all the above steps is necessary in order to make the communication effective. This paper specifically details the campaign named “Catch it, Bin it, Kill it”, which was conducted by NHS/Government in order to bring about public awareness about the sudden outbreak of Swine Flu after the first case was diagnosed earlier in 2009 (Jonathan Van-Tam, 2009, p. 189). Swine Flu was then a new thing; therefore, scientists were put to task of doing research as to what causes it and the ways to combat with this virus. After considerable research was done and some antibiotics were identified that would prove helpful in dealing with this virus; an awareness campaign was launched towards the end of 2009 with the name “Catch it! Bin it! Kill it!” This campaign had a well-researched content that included information about swine flu, measures taken by government, protective measures, symptoms of swine flu and ways and importance to keep oneself updated with news regarding swine flu (Smith, 2010). This campaign, if seen from a broader perspective, was a success with some loopholes too that can be pointed out. The main strengths of the campaign included its catchy slogan and its simplicity (Stephenson, 2009, p. 126). The slogan was not only simple, but it was functional at the same time. This is because it specifically stated what actions are needed to be taken. The main idea that was explained in the leaflet was importance of getting oneself protected by not catching the virus in the first place. Then, the leaflet stated ways through which this virus can be caught. This included air borne droplets that are produced when one sneezes or coughs and does not place a tissue on his mouth and nose. The leaflet carefully explained that if one catches sneeze or cough droplets in his hands or randomly in the air, then he or people around him would become susceptible to catching this virus in case he is a carrier of this virus. Therefore, a simple action plan was told to catch the sneeze or cough with the help of a tissue, thus it said “catch it”. The next action step was told to bin the tissue after one use, thus it said, “bin it”. This way, the leaflet also stated benefits of using the tissue only once. Furthermore, the third step that was stated was to “kill it” i.e. once a carrier of this virus catches his sneeze or cough droplets in a tissue, and then bins it; he kills the droplets carrying the virus and thus the virus altogether in the end. Therefore, following this action plan, a carrier can easily stop spreading the virus (Great Britain: Parliament: House of Lords: Science and Technology Committee, House Of Lords, 2008-2009, p. 77). The slogan was catchy, simple and it was general at the same time. This is because it, no doubt, spread awareness about swine flu in particular; but it was promoting hygiene habits altogether like washing hands after cough or sneeze, sneezing in the tissue and then throwing the tissue after one use etc. Therefore, the leaflet and the information campaign proved beneficial in raising awareness among the people as to how viruses are transferred and how one can protect himself the easy way (House of Lords Select Committee on Communications, 2008-2009, p. 88). Not only the slogan was simple, but also words used in the leaflet were simple to the extent that it could be understood by people belonging to every lifestyle. The use of simple, precise and practical words in the leaflet was one of the strong points of this campaign (Garfield, 2009). Moreover, the actions told were explained by simple illustrations so that everyone can understand it easily i.e. everyone from a school going kid to a senior and lonely member in the society could understand it easily (NHS Oxfordshire, 2012). The leaflet made for this campaign also carried helpline and a list of useful websites that people can check periodically, in order to remain updated, and in order to make sure that they do not have the virus and the like. Moreover, the help lines were different for different areas; in order to, ensure that the lines do not get over crowded and the phone is attended instantly and every call is given equal importance (Smith, 2010). Furthermore, the main strength of this campaign was the element of truthfulness. Being truthful is an immensely important factor for the success of any campaign. The public was told about the two drugs available in the stock that are effective in treating with this flu, and its exact count available. The leaflet also stated that the researchers are trying to develop the vaccines as soon as possible, and they clearly stated that no vaccine has been developed as yet because of the strain of the virus is new (Garfield, 2009). Besides, the leaflet proved to be containing just about the perfect set of information needed to make people aware, and to raise their curiosity to look for more information. With that, a proper channel was told from where this more information could be received (Smith, 2010). The idea of flu friends that was promoted in the leaflet was practical to an extent. It was a great idea and sounded like something that every member of the society would like to do anyway i.e. help their neighbours and people in their surroundings. However, a follow-up on the campaign revealed that people liked the idea of making a network of flu friends in principle, but they were actually reluctant in going to the rescue of their friends in their network in case they needed the said help. Therefore, it would not be wrong to say that a major weak point of this campaign was that it failed to assure people that helping people with swine flu would not get you swine flu, and the chances would become nil if that flu friend follows the principles of Catch it! Bin it! Kill it himself. Another flaw of this campaign was that it created too much hype about the virus so there was a general fear of catching cold that was seen in the masses. This is because the predictions that researchers gave were threatening. However, time proved all those predictions wrong, but created fears and tensions among the masses of something that was not that threatening in the first place (Smith, 2010). Besides, the campaign made everyone over conscious of his or her state of health and thus created an increasing number of “worried well” people. This was that class of people that neither carried the virus, nor were they susceptible to it; but they paid a visit to the doctor anyway in order to get themselves tested for the virus. This flux to the hospitals overpopulated them and diverted doctor’s attention to dealing with a major chunk of people who did not have the virus. This, in turn, made them compromise their attention that should have been given to only those people who were susceptible to the virus. One thing that was lacking in the leaflet was mentioning of the groups that are more susceptible or are at a greater risk of catching this flu i.e. pregnant females and young kids. Let the paper now evaluate this campaign on the four steps that were identified in the beginning of this paper. The first step was to identify the target group which was identified in this campaign as blue collar workers mainly; however, the campaign failed in this step in identifying people that have a higher risk of getting this virus i.e. pregnant females and young kids. Young kids are prone to catching this virus more because they do not have immunity in their bodies to deal with viruses like adults. The second step is to do ample research, which we can see that it was rightly done in this case. It is another thing, though, that the researchers failed to make proper predictions and thus it led to creating hype about the whole situation. The third step, which is using information channels, was used precisely because as many channels were used as possible in order to make sure that everyone gets the message. For example, all the avenues from T.V. to subways were used for this purpose. The last step is to carry out a follow-up, which we can see was precisely done. The government and NHS kept a close watch on all the cases reported, and took corrective actions in the campaign to bring about a greater impact. For example, another campaign was used later on for schools; in order to, deal with young kids that are susceptible to catching this virus more in comparison to others (NPS, 2011). Overall, the campaign was a major success in communicating the essence i.e. “Catch it! Bin it! Kill it”. Time proved that the swine flu would not become a pandemic and thus relieved fear from people’s minds. It would not be wrong to say that the campaign created hype about the whole situation. However, this protective measure was wise to take when the researchers themselves were not sure if it would become a pandemic in UK or not. Therefore, the campaign communicated its message properly. With that, follow up statistics were collected periodically in order to see the effects of this campaign and corrective measures were taken accordingly. The major success of this campaign was that it promoted hygiene habits in public, which is not necessary just for the flu in question but for all other viral diseases as well. References Bradley, D. 2009. Swine Flu. Springer. Dumar, A. M. 2009. Swine Flu: What You Need to Know. Wildside Press LLC. Garfield, S. 2009. Catch it! Bin it! Profit from it! Retrieved n March 15, 2012: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/oct/25/swine-flu-vaccines-profit Great Britain: Parliament: House of Lords: Science and Technology Committee, House Of Lords. 2008-2009. Pandemic Influenza: Follow Up. House of Lords Press House of Lords Select Committee on Communications. 2008-2009. Government Communications. House of Lords Press. Jonathan Van-Tam, C. S. 2009. Introduction to Pandemic Influenza. Wallingford, OX: CAB International. NHS Oxfordshire. 2012. Catch it, Bin it, Kill it. 2012. Retrieved on March 15, 2012: www.oxfordshirepct.nhs.uk/your-health/health-promotion/flu-advice/Catchit.aspx NPS. 2011. Community Update 32. Retrieved on March 15, 2012: www.nps.org.au/consumers/publications/community_update/updates/community_update_august_2011 Smith, S. H. 2010. Public Views of the UK Media and Government Reaction to the 2009 Swine Flu Pandemic. Glasgow, UK. Stephenson, T. 2009. Swine Flu: What Parents Need to Know. Jessica Kingsley Publishers. Read More