Scores of health organizations celebrate a health awareness month to raise awareness, advocate, strengthen community ties, and fundraise.
More than 130 different health awareness months are planned in 2021, according to the online publication Healthline, Add in the various awareness weeks and days, and a total of nearly 240 health awareness periods will be recognized this year.
Adding video to your health awareness month campaign brings your organization’s health focus to the forefront. Proven techniques include using relatable video stories, educational video resources of varied lengths and styles, and videos showing various ways to be involved with your organization. With new features available on video platforms such as YouTube, any fundraising call to action in a video can include a clickable link to a fundraising landing page.
Here are just a few examples of how and why organizations have used video as part of their health awareness months.
Educating about symptoms for prevention and early diagnosis
While the majority of bladder cancers are highly treatable, about 25 percent of bladder cancer patients are diagnosed at an advanced stage – leading them to need complex, potentially life-altering treatments. Educating people about the symptoms of bladder cancer can lead to an earlier diagnosis, help patients avoid complex treatments, and save lives. Common symptoms of bladder cancer include blood in the urine, pain during urination, and a frequent need to urinate. MiniMatters produced this 60-second Health PSA (Public Service Announcement) for the Bladder Cancer Advocacy Network‘s (BCAN) Bladder Cancer Awareness Month. The PSA was also branded to BCAN’s campaign, “We are the many faces of bladder cancer.”
Providing connection for people living with difficult health conditions
People living with difficult health conditions, as well as their families and caregivers, can often feel isolated. Health awareness month activities can help connect these patients and families. These connections can greatly improve the quality of patients’ lives, and even literally save them.
For Tourette Awareness Month (May 15 – June 15), the Tourette Association of America had MiniMatters produce a series of “intimate conversations” videos among parents and children, spouses, doctors, and peers that involved answering questions on pieces of paper picked from a bowl. The honesty of these conversations made many people with Tourette feel like they were not alone in their symptoms, and was a fitting way to build bonds among the community during this special month. Many of the series videos have been viewed thousands of times.
Advocating for more funding for research and treatment
Better treatment for many diseases begins with scientific research that enables us to understand the origins, progression, treatment, and prevention of disease. Funding that research often involves briefing Members of Congress, as seen in this example. Sharing personal stories with elected officials is also important. To do this, many nonprofit organizations will organize in-person or virtual advocacy days, as has the GO2 Foundation for Lung Cancer. The video shared on this page shows how the organization empowers lung cancer patients and their families to share their stories by coming together for advocacy. The video footage for this video came from footage MiniMatters filmed during past (pre-COVID) in-person advocacy days, as well as virtual recordings more recently captured.
Your organization’s health awareness month is also a great time to use video for advocacy–for public awareness and interest in your cause, for specific policies that help with detection and support of your disease or condition, and for research dollars.
Raising funds and thanking donors
Many organizations leverage health awareness months to solicit donations so they can pursue their mission more powerfully. The abrupt shift from in-person to virtual events didn’t stop the Bladder Cancer Advocacy Network, which had MiniMatters produce this Virtual Walk Fundraising Video for their virtual gala. The video helped replace the in-person walks that had raised a significant portion of the budget each year.
Could a health awareness month video and marketing plan help you?
MiniMatters invites you to contact us for a no-obligation call to discuss your needs and ideas. You’ll leave with some great ideas and techniques!
