Intervention & Treatment Campaign

Intervention & Treatment Campaign
“Hope, Help & Healing”

The Partnership for a Drug-Free America launched a campaign in early 2005 designed to provide hope to those struggling with substance abuse, and to encourage people to intervene and seek help for drug and alcohol problems. The “Hope, Help & Healing” campaign is being tested initially in Cincinnati, OH and Houston, TX in cooperation with the Partnership’s alliance partners in both markets, Coalition for a Drug-Free Greater Cincinnati and The
Council on Alcohol and Drugs Houston. Major funding for the campaign has been received from The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Education and treatment are critical to success in reducing substance abuse. Twenty-two million people needed treatment for drugs or alcohol in 2002. Estimates suggest that one in four children lives with a parent who abuses or is dependent on drugs or alcohol, putting those children at significantly higher risk of developing this disorder. Creating an environment supportive of recovery – through information and encouragement – can guide those in need to seek help, and create a healthier environment for the many children at risk of developing problems with drugs or alcohol.

Campaign Elements

The goal of the Partnership’s “Hope, Help & Healing” campaign is to encourage people to get help for themselves or for a loved one who they believe may have a problem with drugs or alcohol.

Through targeted media communication, including advertising and public relations, the Partnership seeks to change public attitudes about addiction and intervention by communicating messages of hope, help and healing. A key component of the initiative was a comprehensive website (www.interveneNOW.org) with interactive tools and resources for those seeking information about how to help themselves or others. The site is not designed to replace guidance from in-person counseling; rather, it is an initial, confidential device to prompt further help and information seeking. Because addiction occurs in all demographic groups, the website also includes a multicultural feature funded by and developed in cooperation with the Center on Substance Abuse and Treatment (CSAT). The campaign also will promote local phone resources available to provide help and guidance to those in need.

The Partnership has worked closely with top scientists, health practitioners and marketers from its Advisory Board, the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), Boston University’s Join Together (Demand Treatment!), and Treatment Research Institute (TRI) at the University of Pennsylvania to develop the campaign.

All campaign messages have been tested for effectiveness and thecampaign launched in Cincinnati and Houston in early 2005. Quantitative research is being conducted in both markets, and in control markets, to evaluate campaign success during the one year test period. Early indications are that the campaign is having an impact in encouraging people to contact the website and local phone lines for help.

“Hope, Help & Healing” Public Service Announcements

Son

Visual illustrations of words in Spanish depicting what can happen to the life of a loved one if their drug addiction goes untreated.

Cancer

Man speaking directly to the camera telling the audience that other medical ailments are treated more seriously than medical conditions like drug and alcohol addiction. Demonstrates the need to treat addiction as a medical problem.

Heart Disease

Woman speaking directly to the camera telling the  audience that other medical ailments are treated more seriously than medical  conditions like drug and alcohol addiction. Demonstrates the need to treat addiction as a medical problem.

Daughter

Visual illustrations of words depicting what can happen to the life of a loved one if their drug addiction goes untreated.

Emergency

A family gathered around a table at a restaurant watches their father fall to the ground in a medical emergency and rather than call for help, they decide to handle it themselves. Illustrates the need to treat drug addiction with urgent care.

Wake-Up

A young man in the midst of an operation wakes up and walks out of the operating room exclaiming to his doctors that he’s fine and can handle his problems on his own. Underscores the importance that drug treatment is not a problem to be undertaken alone.

What Are You Waiting For

Encourages family and loved ones of those battling drug and alcohol addiction to seek help and intervene in the lives of their loved ones before they hit rock bottom. Stresses the need to take action early.

Wreck

By following the driver of a car who is under the influence of drugs, “Wreck” shows a gripping example of the detrimental effects of drug abuse and addiction not only the user, but also on the user’s family and loved ones. The striking visuals drive home the point that drug addiction leaves many victims in its path.