IMPACTS OF A NATIONAL MASS-MEDIA CAMPAIGN ON WALKING IN SCOTLAND

The promotion of walking as a form of exercise holds considerable pote ntial both in terms of health benefits and its wide appeal to inactive groups. This paper presents the results of the evaluation of a nation al mass media walking campaign in Scotland which involved a 40s televi sion advertisement and a telephone helpline. The target population con sisted of people aged 30-55 who are not regular exercisers. The campai gn impact was assessed in terms of awareness of the campaign and pre- and post-campaign changes in knowledge and beliefs about walking as a good form of exercise, in motivations and intentions regarding walking /exercise and in walking/exercise behaviour. The evaluation involved t wo population surveys and baseline and follow-up surveys of the helpli ne callers. Awareness levels for the television advertisement peaked a t 70% of the adult population during the first I-week burst of adverti sing, falling to 54% during the non-broadcast period. The evaluation f indings show that, at a population level, the campaign had a notable p ositive impact on knowledge about walking as a form. of exercise but n o impact on walking behaviour. Among the helpline callers the campaign had a substantial impact at the level of intentions and behaviour: 48 % of the callers followed up at 1 year claimed to be more physically a ctive and there was an overall shift from the 'contemplation' stage of change at baseline towards the 'action' stage at the 10-week and 1-ye ar follow-ups. The proportion of adults aware of the telephone helplin e rose from 5% at the start of the campaign to 16% 4 months later, but only 5% of these respondents used the service. This level of use repr esents 0.1% coverage at the start of the campaign rising to 1% 4 month s later.