EVALUATION OF A COLD FLU SELF-CARE PUBLIC-EDUCATION CAMPAIGN/

The purpose of the study was to evaluate an Ontario Ministry of Health (MOH) cold/flu self-care public education campaign to reduce unnecess ary patient visits to doctors, The MOH campaign consisted of an inform ation booklet delivered to every household in an Ontario city, newspap er ads and radio spots, The program ran during January-March 1994. The evaluation consisted of: (1) 2X2 telephone survey in London (experime ntal area) and Windsor (comparison area), before and during the campai gn; and (2) a telephone survey of London family practitioners during t he campaign, In addition, data on the incidence of cold/flu visits to three hospital emergency departments and a sample of family physicians ' offices were gathered. The data suggest that program rationale may h ave been questionable because the majority of the surveyed public were knowledgeable and self-reported appropriate doctor visits for cold/fl u, Campaign evaluation showed limited impact, Message penetration was low; only one-third of London residents knew of the campaign or read t he booklet, Only two of 10 questions showed increases in knowledge in London and no changes were found for beliefs, attitudes, acquisition o f new health practices or self-reported visits to the doctor, The phys ician survey, emergency room and family physician office visit data we re consistent with the public survey findings.