The Change of Behavior Among the Aboriginals to Begin Using Healthcare Facilities - Assignment Example

Social Marketing Campaign Introduction The aboriginal Australians have faced a myriad of challenges that have affected their lives in a negative manner. Over a long period of time the challenges which face the people include ill health and continued ignorance of their needs. Poor health among the aboriginals has also been aggravated by their lack of access to medical facilities as a result of the areas in which they live. Other than this, their cultural beliefs have had detrimental effects as many of them fail to seek professional healthcare services and depend on traditional medicine. This has resulted to a high mortality rate being observed among the aboriginal population as well as a low life expectancy. There is need to sensitise the population about the need to seek professional medical services and also avail the services to the people (Lee & Kotler 2011). The target audience The campaign will be targeting various stakeholders who can be involved in delivering the communication and the services within the programme. The campaign will be seeking to sensitise the aboriginals on the need for seeking professional medical assistance when faced with health complications (Neiger et al. 2003). This campaign’s objective will be achieved through ensuring the active participation of the various groups of people being targeted by the campaign. The targets will include the following i. Aboriginals, who are the victims, who have been affected by the problem and will be the main beneficiaries of the behavioural change campaign ii. Social institutions which will be utilised in reaching to the communities through the interactions with the hope of instilling a positive behavioural change. iii. Individuals form the wider community who have developed a negative attitude towards the aboriginals with regard to the victimisation and lack of empowerment for the aboriginals Campaign position The fundamental focus of the campaign will be on the change of behaviour among the aboriginals to begin using healthcare facilities rather than relying on their traditional medicine in the treatment of various ailments. A change in the behaviour will be initiated by the campaigns which will be sensitising the people on the importance of visiting healthcare facilities (Lefebvre 2011). The campaign will be aimed at educating the people on the importance of depending on the professional healthcare services offered at institutions. The target groups will be informed through the media and direct communication delivered through social organisations providing other services to the community. The application of these methods will ensure that the target populations are reached by the campaign message in order to achieve the objectives of the campaign. The product Freedom from diseases will be the name of the campaign which will be undertaken in seeking to achieve the objectives that have been defined within the plan. This name of the campaign will be communicating the target for the whole campaign as well as the benefits which people will be getting from the product. Active involvement will be leading people towards reduction of the diseases which have been affecting the aboriginal Australians for a long period of time (Lefebvre 2013). The campaign also includes other stakeholders like the healthcare workers and institutions who will be service the role of ensuring the community is free form ailments. The health factors which are under concern are treatable and it is critical to ensure that there is a full awareness among all the stakeholders regarding the desired outcome of the campaign. Price The services which will be provided to the aboriginal people through the campaign are mainly free and aimed at sensitising and empowering them to being seeking medical services from hospitals. To the aboriginals, the sensitisation campaign will only involve their attendance to the meetings and conventions which will be used to provide the information pertaining to the campaign. The other stakeholders including the social welfare institutions and the individuals within the wider community will also be required to be actively participating within the campaign to ensure its success. The whole funding for the campaign will be provided by the government and donor institutions, who will be supporting the campaign. Place The campaign will be undertaken in regions where there is a large population of aboriginal Australians. These are the main beneficiaries of the campaign and the other target groups will, be mainly providing support serves to the campaign. Many of the aboriginal individuals hold negative perceptions about seeking medical services form institutions. In seeking to sensitise and educate them on the need for these services, it will be critical to take the services to them in order to enable them make an evaluation of the services and experience them. This will be critical in ensuring the campaign reaches the entire target market as a way of achieving the set targets of the campaign. Promotion The campaign will be constantly communicated to the various stakeholders in seeking to ensure that they are constantly motivated to participate within the programme. In achieving a change in behaviour the target populations must be actively involved for a gradual change to be achieved. This communication will be undertaken through radio, which is the best form for reaching the aboriginals. Posters and pamphlet will also be utilized by the social organisations in conveying important information on the benefits of institutional healthcare to the aboriginals who have been relying on other forms of healthcare services (Kotler et al. 2002). A lot of the resources allocated to the campaign will be utilised in undertaking promotional activities which will include making advertisements to encourage the people to attend the conventions. Evaluation After the implementation of the programme is complete an evaluation will be undertaken to determine the effectiveness of the plan in achieving the objectives of the plan (Truss 2010). The results of the implementation will be evaluated based on the behavioural changes which will be observed among the aboriginals. It will be anticipated that the number of aboriginal people seeking medical services in institutions will increase following the implementation of this campaign. The evaluation will be undertaken based on the numbers of aboriginal individuals who will be seeking these services. Records of the deaths and disease outbreaks which will occur upon the aboriginals will also be utilised in evaluating the effectiveness of the campaign in enhancing the health and wellbeing of aboriginals in Australia. Reference Kotler, P., Roberto, N. & Lee, N., 2002. Social Marketing: Improving the Quality of Life, New York: Sage Publications. Lee, N. & Kotler, K., 2011. Social Marketing: Influencing Behaviour for Good 4th ed., Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. Lefebvre, R.C., 2011. An integrative model for social marketing. Journal of Social Marketing, 1, pp.54–72. Lefebvre, R.C., 2013. Social marketing and social change: Strategies and tools for improving health, well-being and the environment, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Neiger, B.L., Thackeray, R., Barnes, M. D., & McKenzie, J. F. 2003. Positioning Social Marketing as a Planning Process for Health Education. American Journal of Health Studies, 18(2/3), pp.75–81. Truss, A., 2010. Social Marketing and Public Health: Theory and practice J. French et al., eds., Oxford: Oxford University Press.  Read More