The ‘Measure Up’ health campaign was introduced in 2006 and is still operating today. It is supported and funded by the Australian Federal and State Governments, with the aim of the campaign to target chronic disease, and raise awareness to the link between poor health and lifestyle risk factors (poor nutrition, physical activity and other risk behaviours associated with lifestyle such as smoking, alcohol etc.). The Measure Up Campaign is a good example of a health promotional campaign that has, a website, television ads and also printed advertising promotions, because the campaign has all three of these areas the message of the campaign can be spread widely through various means of media-communications.
1) I believe that the website promotion of the Measure Up Campaign is effective in achieving the aims of the campaign as to increase awareness of the link between chronic illness and lifestyle risk factors, however this strategy of health promotion is not effective in improving the health of young people. I believe this to be the case because the campaign may be for all Australians but the may target audience is 25-40 year olds who have children themselves and who have control over their own lifestyle behaviours as young people do not have as much control over such things as risk factors in their lifestyle the website is welcoming and is easy to navigate with informative content that encourages people to participate in the ideas put forward by the campaign.
The campaign is fair in providing relevant information to people visiting the site, however a key point to be made is that many people may not have access to technology and therefore are disadvantaged when it comes to accessing this website. All people have the right to access this information and it is that the government has invested in this campaign to ensure that the Australian public’s rights are being met. Ways of possibly improving the Measure Up website in order to effectively improve health of young people could be to, make the website more ‘child-friendly’ or change the layout to a simpler more attractive theme to young people so they can be influenced by the campaign to improve health. Another improvement that could be made in the website could be to make it more interactive with visitors to the site, as people would become more engaged and aware of issues. Ways of achieving this are to make puzzles, mind maps and activities, particularly aimed at young people.
2) Printed promotions used in the Measure Up campaign effectively to raise awareness and influence change and encourage better health to all Australians, through the form of posters, billboards and pamphlets. I believe that this form of health promotion in the campaign is the most effective strategy in improving health as it is easily understandable and is widely exposed to the public, however again it is not that effective when it comes to improving health of young people but it does encourage the thought process in improving health and raises awareness that is good to have from a younger age. In regards to social justice this strategy of health promotion is fair in providing information to the public and is easily available, it is conveyed in the public arena and therefore every one has access to the print campaign and peoples rights are addressed as they receive the benefits of this campaign and peoples rights to health and education are met. The Printed media in this campaign could be improved by targeted young peoples health and issues associated with it such as making posters encouraged people to get physically active instead of playing technology and watching television. Another improvement to the printed promotions could be use an example of young people whose health has been negatively impacted on by the lifestyle risk behaviours of their parents, thus targeting both young people and parents, aiming in turn to improve health in both demographics.
3) I believe that the television health promotion strategy used in the Measure Up campaign is very effective when we compare it to the principles of social justice as it is widely viewed by people as many people watch television at length in our society and the people the campaign is targeted at see the advertisement. There is a level of equity being met in the advertisement as it is encouraging better health over all groups and sectors in society and is non-discriminative to all who view it. It is widely accessible as most people have access to a T.V and can view the ad, and the rights of people in Australia are addressed as it educates and encourages ‘All’ people to think about how they ‘measure up’. This strategy of health promotion again has its positives and negatives when improving health of young people. I think that it is the most effective promotional strategy in the campaign when it comes to improving health of young people as they all watch television and will watch the advertisement but only a few would stop on the street to read a poster. The advertisement also features children with the father on the scale at different times and this may appeal to young people and raise awareness to them of possible health issues in the future that may be relevant to them. This health promotional strategy could be improved by having a second advertisement with children showcasing issues that they are having with their own health and have noticed that they need help with, such as getting more exercise and eating a balanced diet. Another improvement that could be made in this advertisement to make it more effective in improving health of young people is to use scare tactics in order to raise awareness and improve health in younger people, this can be achieved by using some examples of cases of young people who have suffered circumstances and link it back to their lifestyle and risky behaviours involved. Bibliography:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWTlHqca5AM
http://www.measureup.gov.au/internet/abhi/publishing.nsf/Content/About+the+campaign-lp#measure http://jech.bmj.com/content/57/4/254.full
http://www.measureup.gov.au/internet/abhi/publishing.nsf/Content/home