ADVANCING PUBLIC PROTECTION THROUGH ENHANCED PUBLIC AWARENESS INITIATIVES
WHY ARE WE FOCUSING ON ADVANCING PUBLIC AWARENESS?
One of the major tasks for any regulatory College is to make the public aware of its role in public protection and to ensure they realize the value of seeing a regulated professional. This is part of why the Minister of Health and Long-Term Care, the Hon. Dr. Eric Hoskins, has been placing such major emphasis over recent years on Colleges being more transparent about their processes and the information they collect and maintain.
ABOUT THE INITIATIVE
The public awareness initiative was developed to advance public awareness by increasing the public's knowledge of the advantages of regulation so ultimately the public will become more confident in the care provided by regulated practitioners.
ABOUT THE AUDIENCE
This initiative included an integrated campaign aimed at patients that use audiologist and speech-language services, emphasizing the importance of regulation and the overall role of the College. Based on public opinion survey feedback, videos and brochures were developed with an approach to reach a target audience of Ontario patients and caregivers of up to and including school age children; and seniors.
THE OUTCOME
More of the targeted public audience have been made aware of CASLPO and its role, learned about what the College can do for them and appreciate the advantages of accessing a regulated health professional.
WHAT DID THE INTEGRATED CAMPAIGN INCLUDE?
The campaign included video, print, and on-line digital components so that, through Ontario clinic screens and a series of Facebook posts, over time, public awareness will advance. A simple, easy to understand, motion graphics video format with "sound down" capability was selected to enable distribution in Doctor offices and by social media. This outreach matches the survey findings that these are two major sources of health information for the public.