Designing Effective Communication Strategies Through Application of Behavior Change Theory to GIS-Based Technology

Background: Leveraging evidence based behavior change theory with GIS based micro-targeting technology; health communications professionals can create more effective behavior change solutions for their program’s target populations. Policy Studies, Inc. (PSI) developed Vicinity, a population analysis, campaign planning, and evaluation tool specifically to help health and human services programs find, engage, and better serve their populations. Agencies that use the PSI model have achieved significant improvements in program enrollment and participation, even among traditionally underserved and hard to reach populations.  By combining GIS based micro-targeting technologies with a population model based on observable, household-level behaviors, Vicinity guides targeted behavior-change interventions. PSI understands that motivating behavior change requires more than just understanding the demographics of a population, and thus, Vicinity can evaluate populations using a combination of demographic and evidence based behavioral models that focus on how and why people make decisions. Employing a dynamic, interactive mapping function, Vicinity can identify these groups in every state down to the Census block group level.  Based on the audiences identified, Vicinity then gives program staff and administrators the tools and information necessary to engage, motivate, and support target audience members throughout the life of their program participation. Finally, Vicinityoffers campaign management and evaluation of these efforts.

Program background: PSI is a health and human services communications and consulting firm that specializes in practical outreach for the public good.

Evaluation Methods and Results:  Vicinityhas been used for planning and outreach design in a variety of areas including convincing low-income parents in Kansas to enroll their children in CHIP, helping Florida families provide forever homes to children with special needs, and giving Medicaid beneficiaries in DC the incentive to take a more active role in maintaining good health.

Conclusions:  The Vicinitytool is interactive, easy to use, and customizable to the needs of any program. It empowers programs to use existing data in a way that not only describes past behaviors, but positively impacts decision-making to avoid common pitfalls. By utilizing this approach to communications and outreach, program staff can develop messages and methods that appeal to the needs of each target audience, including hard to reach and underserved populations in a way that traditional health communications strategies cannot.

Implications for research and/or practice:  The practical applications for program managers and communications staff are many:  

• Locate different target audience groups and understand their unique barriers and motivators.
• Choose the most effective outreach strategies for each target audience including messages, outreach activities, and engagement initiatives.
• Build tailored outreach and engagement campaigns for each target audience.
• Monitor and evaluate the success of communication and outreach efforts, producing real-time reports on all aspects of campaign management.