Reaching Your Audience with the Right Message at the Right Time:

The development and dissemination of public health materials to consumers, providers, and other key constituencies is a critical element of public health outreach, education, and advocacy. Distributing and marketing materials in a cost-effective and efficient manner – so that they reach the intended audience – can be a challenge for many state agencies and public health organizations. Additionally, evaluating the effectiveness of information and distribution systems is significant to any successful public health outreach and education effort.

This presentation will focus on building and maintaining a statewide distribution infrastructure – a clearinghouse – which currently allows for the dissemination of over 2 million pieces of public health literature free-of-charge to residents of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The Massachusetts Health Promotion Clearinghouse represents a state-of-the-art distribution system, including multi-faceted marketing techniques; on-line ordering and order tracking capabilities; target marketing options; customer satisfaction survey and evaluation mechanisms; and the ability to reach a network of over 100,000 public health and social service providers statewide with over 500 titles in 10 languages, and on a variety of chronic disease prevention and other public health topics.