Department of Internal Medicine, University of California at Davis, Sacramento, USA.
Patient Educ Couns. 2013 Mar;90(3):411-9. doi: 10.1016/j.pec.2011.07.003. Epub 2011 Aug 21.
Commercial advertising and patient education have separate theoretical underpinnings, approaches, and practitioners. This paper aims to describe a collaboration between academic researchers and a marketing firm working to produce demographically targeted public service anouncements (PSAs) designed to enhance depression care-seeking in primary care.
An interdisciplinary group of academic researchers contracted with a marketing firm in Rochester, NY to produce PSAs that would help patients with depressive symptoms engage more effectively with their primary care physicians (PCPs). The researchers brought perspectives derived from clinical experience and the social sciences and conducted empirical research using focus groups, conjoint analysis, and a population-based survey. Results were shared with the marketing firm, which produced four PSA variants targeted to gender and socioeconomic position.
There was no simple, one-to-one relationship between research results and the form, content, or style of the PSAs. Instead, empirical findings served as a springboard for discussion and kept the creative process tethered to the experiences, attitudes, and opinions of actual patients. Reflecting research findings highlighting patients' struggles to recognize, label, and disclose depressive symptoms, the marketing firm generated communication objectives that emphasized: (a) educating the patient to consider and investigate the possibility of depression; (b) creating the belief that the PCP is interested in discussing depression and capable of offering helpful treatment; and (c) modelling different ways of communicating with physicians about depression. Before production, PSA prototypes were vetted with additional focus groups. The winning prototype, "Faces," involved a multi-ethnic montage of formerly depressed persons talking about how depression affected them and how they improved with treatment, punctuated by a physician who provided clinical information. A member of the academic team was present and consulted closely during production. Challenges included reconciling the marketing tradition of audience segmentation with the overall project goal of reaching as broad an audience as possible; integrating research findings across dimensions of words, images, music, and tone; and dealing with misunderstandings related to project scope and budget.
Mixed methods research can usefully inform PSAs that incorporate patient perspectives and are produced to professional standards. However, tensions between the academic and commercial worlds exist and must be addressed.
While rewarding, academic-marketing collaborations introduce tensions which must be addressed.
商业广告和患者教育有各自的理论基础、方法和从业者。本文旨在描述学术研究人员与一家营销公司之间的合作，该合作旨在制作针对特定人群的公益广告（PSA），以增强初级保健中的抑郁治疗寻求。
一个跨学科的学术研究人员团队与纽约罗切斯特的一家营销公司签订合同，制作 PSA，帮助有抑郁症状的患者更有效地与他们的初级保健医生（PCP）合作。研究人员带来了来自临床经验和社会科学的观点，并使用焦点小组、联合分析和基于人群的调查进行了实证研究。研究结果与营销公司共享，该公司制作了四个针对性别和社会经济地位的 PSA 变体。
研究结果与 PSA 的形式、内容或风格之间没有简单的一对一关系。相反，实证发现为讨论提供了一个跳板，并使创作过程与实际患者的经验、态度和意见保持联系。反映研究结果强调患者在识别、标记和披露抑郁症状方面的困难，营销公司生成的沟通目标强调：（a）教育患者考虑并调查抑郁的可能性；（b）使患者相信 PCP 有兴趣讨论抑郁并能够提供有帮助的治疗；（c）模拟与医生沟通抑郁的不同方式。在制作之前，PSA 原型经过了额外的焦点小组测试。获胜的原型“Faces”涉及一个由以前患有抑郁症的多民族蒙太奇组成，他们谈论了抑郁对他们的影响以及他们如何通过治疗得到改善，穿插着一位提供临床信息的医生。一名学术团队成员在场，并在制作过程中进行了密切咨询。挑战包括调和营销领域的受众细分传统与尽可能广泛受众的总体项目目标；整合跨单词、图像、音乐和语气维度的研究结果；以及处理与项目范围和预算相关的误解。
混合方法研究可以为纳入患者观点并按照专业标准制作的 PSA 提供有用的信息。然而，学术和商业世界之间存在紧张关系，必须加以解决。
虽然具有挑战性，但学术与营销之间的合作确实存在必须加以解决的紧张关系。
