Tramp Stamping out Tobacco
Smoking is a real drag. Which led the Glens Falls Hospital Health Promotion Center to approach us last spring after wrapping up the Good Move campaign, to see if we would work with them again on a tobacco cessation campaign. We didn’t think twice about saying yes, we were ready to kick butt.
We are all familiar with the nationwide Tips From Former Smokers campaign from the CDC over the past few years. The campaign profiles former smokers and with its shocking images and heartbreaking stories, it certainly leaves an impression. While effective with its shock value, its approach wasn't right for this community-driven campaign. Many large scale anti-tobacco campaigns have fallen short with their ability to offer tangible resources and personalized assistance which is why community and regional tobacco cessation campaigns are so vital.
The Glens Falls Hospital Health Promotion Center is above all, a huge resource and advocate for the health of the community. They work with healthcare providers, landlords, employers, business owners and politicians and are actively out in the community fighting tobacco retailers. With this campaign, we are informing the community of the resources available by creating cohesive materials that are recognizable and trusted by the community and that invites the community to make a change.
We created a new name: Fix It!, and mark for the campaign that adopted the look of Good Move so that the two health centered initiatives can be used side by side. The Fix It! name and mark cover the many initiatives of the campaign which include; Smoke-Free Outdoors, Smoke-Free Housing, Smoke-Free Workplace, Smoke-Free Media, and Point of Sale and can work in conjunction with Reality Check, a youth led anti-tobacco program in NYS.
Together with the Glens Falls Hospital Health Promotion Center and Department of Health, we started coming up with materials that would not only educate the community on the harmful effects of tobacco but give tools and incentives to quit tobacco for good.
For Reality Check we've produced fun recruitment incentives including shirts, pen, water bottles, bags and awareness bracelets along with print materials with strong calls to action that are boosting awareness, recruitment and social media presence. They currently have 50 active members and have five area schools participating. They started with zero. Catch my drift?
For the other Fix It! initiatives we have created Tool Kits for employers, landlords, parks and playgrounds that are looking to go smoke-free along with Quit Kits for smokers and materials for healthcare providers. Informational posters, table tents and rack cards were designed to grab people's attention and educate.
No-smoking signs designed for parks, playgrounds, businesses and apartments were designed and 59 signs have already been requested across the region.
"The Fix It! campaign has helped to unify our Department of Health funded Advancing Tobacco-Free Communities initiative and our Health Systems for a Tobacco-Free NY initiative, while assisting us in building brand recognition in the communities we serve. Through our partnership with Trampoline, we have placed media and created promotional materials for Fix It! that have enhanced our education and mobilization efforts in a way that is engaging and fun, while crafting messaging that resonates with all audiences, from youth to elected officials to health care providers and administrators." —Kelly Pilkey
You can learn more on the Fix It! campaign and how to quit tobacco for good and how to make your workplace, housing and outdoors tobacco-free by contacting the Health Promotion Center at fixit@glensfallshosp.org and going to glensfallshospital.org.