Thread by @DrRossGordon

1/1 A thread offering some reflections on the #SydneyOutbreak of #COVID19 #DeltaVariant and ending the #SydneyLockdown from a #socialmarketing perspective.

First, behaviour is driven by more than individual psychology & trying to motivate people to do ‘the right thing’.

2/14 The socio-cultural & structural environment also shape people’s behaviour 🙄 Yet, this receives less attention in policy & health behaviour change efforts. This is where a Strategic Social Marketing can come in. au.sagepub.com/en-gb/oce/stra…

3/14 Social marketing uses #marketing & #SocialSciences principles to encourage health #behaviourchange. And it has been used before to tackle pandemics 🤔 ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P…

4/14 Let’s start with barriers & incentives to change. Why is it hard to perform certain behaviours? Make it easier to do them.

Much easier to stay@home & avoid catching #COVID19 if you are a white-collar worker, with large house & study, computer & $ to pay for deliveries🚚📦

5/14 Much harder if you are an essential worker on low wages from SW #Sydney living in a crowded unit. It would be cheaper & more effective to pay such workers a generous allowance to incentivise them to stay@home. What Jobkeeper kinda did last year...

6/14 #Retailers could provide free delivery to all, perhaps subsidised, thus removing a barrier to staying@home & preventing transmission in #supermarkets & essential outlets. 🚚 📦 🍎 🍞 🥛 🍝

7/14 We also need much better #segmentation #targeting & #positioning. Simply communicating generic health advice @ 11am press conferences when essential workers are @work 🙄 is not enough. 🎯

8/14 Given large #CALD populations in parts of #Sydney where #Covid19 #DeltaVariant is spreading we need an STP approach that’s also #culturally competent. Rapid & responsive language translations of key info should be distributed through multiple channels #TV #radio #socialmedia

9/14 #Faith-based & community leaders can also help - e.g. through online #religous services. This can help communicate key messages about #COVID19 safe behaviours & info about #vaccination.

10/14 National policy change & place-based #services #marketing is also needed. Direct resources i.e #vaccines where needed. Where people are getting sick & dying. Stop the political squabbling & point scoring. Time for blame games could come in a Royal Commission post pandemic🤨

11/14 As many #PfizerVaccine into arms of people in #Sydney hotspots will help all #Australia #health #economically #socially #culturally Currently, the #federation is fraying apart.

Take #vaccination 💉 to the people. Shift workers can’t go to GPs only open in office hours.

12/14 Mass vaccination hubs offer appts that may not align with work & family responsibilities. Mobile #cancer screening & blood donation services work well. Do same for vaccines. Mobile vaccination units can get into communities offering 24/7 access & get jabs into arms 🚛 💉💪🏻

13/14 Mobile vaccination units can set up in community parks & other suitable locations & be set up outdoors to provide good #ventilation & reduce risk of #virus spread.

We know that taking a one-size-fits-all to changing health behaviours doesn’t work gov.uk/government/new…

14/14 So, let’s stop 🛑 doing that here in 🇦🇺 Strategic social marketing can help.
There is a big box of tools available. Let’s use it. aasm.org.au/wp-content/upl…

Over and out... @AASM_Aus @isma_org @europeansma @WHO @QUT @QUTBusiness @CrimeJusticeQUT @BESTcentre_ @TheBCC_Org

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