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Background: In 2003, a number of federal agencies, led by the CDC, released a set of recommendations for incorporating HIV prevention in the medical care of persons living with HIV (PLWH). In 2007, CDC developed and launched a social marketing campaign, Prevention IS Care (PIC), to increase awareness of the recommendations and the number of medical providers who incorporate routine screening for HIV transmission behaviors and deliver prevention messages to patients during office visits.
Program background: The development of effective campaign messages and materials has been guided by ongoing research including: literature reviews, environmental scans, exploratory research, and message, concept, and materials testing. Key findings from initial formative research revealed that, among medical providers, there was low awareness of CDC recommendations and limited screening of HIV-positive patients for risky sexual behaviors. Barriers to adopting the recommendations included limited time and support staff, and pessimism about the effectiveness of patient counseling. Providers reported that, with proper tools, they are willing to screen patients and discuss transmission behaviors and are more likely to use prevention materials if they are developed by the CDC, easy to use, and evidence based. To address these findings, a social marketing framework incorporating health behavior constructs from social cognitive and diffusion of innovations theories was developed to guide campaign activities. PIC has developed the following for providers: a suite of educational tools to use with PLWH, such as fact sheets, informational posters and brochures, and continuing medical education (CME) opportunities to update and add depth to knowledge and skills. The campaign is promoted through online and print advertisements, a campaign-specific CDC website, medical conference exhibits, and partnerships with medical associations.
Evaluation Methods and Results: To measure objectives and improve practice, campaign evaluation is ongoing and includes monitoring process metrics such as the number and types of materials distributed, the number of presentations or workshops, home page views, and the number of advertisements placed. Outcome measures evaluated include campaign awareness and intention to screen for HIV prevention behaviors. PIC has generated 33,600 home page views, over 755,000 impressions from online banner advertisements, over 250,000 impressions from print advertisements, and was present at 59 events.
Conclusions: PIC can serve as a model for other social marketing campaigns that target medical providers. The campaign provides examples of effective research methods and materials that can be replicated and channels for reaching this population.
Implications for research and/or practice: PIC research and evaluation has shown that providers prefer to receive materials in print form versus electronically or by download and that online advertisements on medical sites are successful avenues for increasing visits to the website and materials ordered/downloaded from the web. Additionally, PIC has identified several channels that provide effective means for reaching HIV providers. CMEs, for example, serve as an important resource for educating and training providers on topics such as helping patients to modify risky behaviors, reducing transmission, and communicating about ART medication adherence. Finally, the most common medical associations identified were the American College of Physicians and the Infectious Disease Society of America, which can provide opportunities for partnerships when targeting this population.