Frequently Asked Questions

  1. What is “Physical Activity. The Arthritis Pain Reliever”?
  2. What is the target audience for “Physical Activity. The Arthritis Pain Reliever”?
  3. What is the goal of the campaign?
  4. What materials are available to support the campaign?
  5. What materials are suggested as a minimum for implementing the campaign?
  6. Are there any TV spots for the “Physical Activity. The Arthritis Pain Reliever” campaign?
  7. Are states authorized to use the campaign graphics to create new products?
  8. Can phrases from the campaign (i.e., “I can’t let arthritis stand in my way” or “show arthritis who’s boss” ) be used to promote specific interventions, or used on other materials?
  9. How often should the ad materials be featured?
  10. What are the expectations about rigorous evaluation of the health communication campaign? If current evaluations of the effects show that the campaign works, does evaluation continue in future years?
  11. When do campaign materials expire?
  12. How is this revised campaign different than the original “Physical Activity. The Arthritis Pain Reliever.” campaign?

 

1. What is “Physical Activity. The Arthritis Pain Reliever”?

“Physical Activity. The Arthritis Pain Reliever” is a health communications campaign designed to promote physical activity among Caucasian and African American people who are 40 to 65 years old and have arthritis. Campaign materials include radio spots, billboards, bus shelter placards, brochures, and print ads, flyers, and social media materials.

2. What is the target audience for “Physical Activity. The Arthritis Pain Reliever”?

The campaign’s target audience is people with arthritis who are 40 to 65 years old. The campaign was designed to appeal to Caucasians and African Americans with less education than a college degree, and income under $75,000 per year. Campaign materials were tested, and do resonate with adults up to age 70. However the messages are incomplete for adults over age 65 because the HHS Physical Activity GuidelinesExternal recommend that adults over age 65 also incorporate balance exercises, and this message is not included in the campaign materials.

3. What is the goal of the campaign?

The campaign is designed to achieve the following goals:

  • Raise awareness of physical activity as a way to manage arthritis pain and increase function.
  • Increase understanding of how to use physical activity (types and duration) to ease arthritis symptoms and prevent further disability.
  • Enhance the confidence of persons with arthritis so that they can be physically active.
  • Increase trial of physical activity behaviors.

4. What materials are available to support the campaign?

Campaign materials include radio spots, billboards, bus shelter placards, brochures, print ads, flyers, and social media materials.

5. What materials are suggested as a minimum for implementing the campaign?

To conduct the campaign, it is recommended to include a mix of media types to ensure broad reach of the target audience. Organizations should use brochures placed in community locations, some type of advertising (billboards, bus shelter placards, print and/or radio ads) and some type of social media materials.

6. Are there any TV spots for the “Physical Activity. The Arthritis Pain Reliever” campaign?

At this time, campaign materials have not been designed or tested for TV. We recommend focusing efforts on placement of the available campaign materials.

7. Can the campaign graphics be changed?

No, modifications are not allowed.

 8. Can phrases from the campaign (i.e., “I can’t let arthritis stand in my way” or “show arthritis who’s boss”) be used to promote specific interventions, or used on other materials?

Use of the campaign phrases is not restricted because they are not trademarked.

9. How often should the ad materials be featured?

The more the campaign materials are used, the more effective the campaign will be in reaching the target audience. When considering how long to run the campaign in your market, we recommend a minimum of 6 to 10 weeks. You can stretch your investment dollars out if you run the campaign for 2 weeks, withdraw paid ads for 2 weeks, and then run the paid ads for another 2 weeks. It is better to achieve a higher saturation of your messages during a shorter period of time than to space your campaign out over several months with limited exposures.

10. What are the expectations about evaluation of the health communication campaign? 

There are five questions to guide evaluation of the campaign:

  1. Were the campaign materials distributed? (To communication channels such as radio stations, community centers, and/or newspapers, through social media, etc.)
  2. Were the materials used? (Did the radio stations air the spots? Did the newspaper print the ads? Were the flyers, and/or brochures used in their community locations?)
  3. Did the materials reach the target audience? (What was the listener-ship in the target audience at the time the spots aired? When was the social media content posted? What is the profile of the readership or users? How many brochures were picked up from community locations or sent to members of the target audience?)
  4. Were the materials read and/or understood by the target audience?
  5. Did the campaign produce changes in knowledge, attitudes or beliefs, or behavior?

Organizations should concentrate evaluation efforts on assessing campaign implementation (questions 1 through 3) rather than campaign impact (questions 4 and 5). Although it is not required, you can do a community survey to assess the outcomes of your efforts as well.

11. When do campaign materials expire?

All campaign materials can be used indefinitely as long as they are available on this site.

12. How is this revised campaign different than the original “Physical Activity. The Arthritis Pain Reliever.” campaign?

The campaign materials were all revised in 2018. The campaign tagline, “Physical Activity. The Arthritis Pain Reliever.”, and the call to action, be physically active, remain the same. All campaign materials were revised to strengthen their design elements.

Campaign Overview

Download Campaign Materials