Analysis of a Health Communication Campaign: The Well Woman Chart

The Well-Woman Chart (WWC) is a campaign by the Women’s Preventive Services Initiative (WPSI) to inform women about the screening and preventative services that they are eligible to receive for free with insurance based on their age category. Many women are unaware of these recommendations. Therefore, the program aims to increase women’s awareness of what services they are eligible for and how many receive these services annually. The one-page chart displays over fifty interventions, from cervical cancer screening to lipid testing, with a dot in each age category in which they are indicated (Image 1). The WWC launched in 2018 on the American College of OBGYN website and is advertised on numerous other health organization websites. The WPSI releases an updated version of the WWC on its website annually.

This program contains several elements that make for a successful health communication campaign. First, the variety of formats makes the message more accessible to the two intended audiences: women of all ages and backgrounds and healthcare providers who deliver care to women. The WWC includes several components, including a PDF chart (Image 1), an interactive version (Image 2), and patient education pamphlets (Images 3 and 4). Secondly, the availability of materials in both English and Spanish also makes the campaign accessible to a greater number of women. The WWC is comprehensive, consolidating a lot of information into a concise format. However, the program could be more successful in delivering its message if it expanded its patient materials, which lack details about the recommended services for each age group. For this, one has to consult the chart, which may be difficult for some to interpret. It would be helpful to have different pamphlets for each age group so women know which services they should advocate to receive at each point in their lives.

The campaign is somewhat unsuccessful in marketing its message, as evidenced by the fact that I have never seen the WCC as a woman seeking care or as a healthcare provider caring for women. WPSI should improve its advertising of the WCC, perhaps by using social media and posting in physicians' offices. This would enhance its success in delivering its message to its target populations.

The WCC campaign is successful in appealing to its audiences’ values. Physicians value their ability to provide competent, evidenced-based medical care (Wetstone, 2001). Therefore, a program such as this one, assisting in providing the highest quality of preventative care to their patients, would appeal to them. Additionally, this campaign synthesizes many recommendations into a concise chart that a busy physician can easily reference. Data supports women valuing their health; 90% of women in the Global Health Index survey report that health screening is important, so this campaign would appeal to women seeking to improve their health (Hologic US health survey, n.d.). Additionally, the pamphlet contains diverse representation, specifically images of women of various ages, races, and stages of life. Consumers are more likely to interact with brands whose advertising positively reflects their identity (How inclusive marketing affects behavior, n.d.). The diversity of the WWC materials helps women identify with the campaign and be more receptive to its recommendations.

The WWC is a great resource for educating patients and physicians on the recommended preventive care for women across different age groups. It communicates useful information and adequately appeals to its audiences, but the distribution of the chart could be improved to have a greater impact.

References

How inclusive marketing affects behavior. (n.d.). Think with Google. Retrieved July 26, 2024, from https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/future-of-marketing/management-and-culture/diversity-and-inclusion/inclusive-marketing-consumer-data/

Hologic US Health Survey. (n.d.). Retrieved July 26, 2024, from https://hologic.womenshealthindex.com/en/hologic-us-health-survey?atr=false

Wetstone, H. J. (1993). 1993 AMA principles of medical ethics. Connecticut Medicine, 57(7), 497. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8403890