Situation Analysis:
Long-term care facilities have been hit especially hard during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Arkansas Health Care Association (AHCA), the association that represents long-term care facilities in Arkansas, began preparing in February 2020 when the first positive case was confirmed at a Washington state facility. It was a matter of when, rather than if COVID-19 would occur in Arkansas. It was necessary for AHCA to act swiftly to plan safety, prevention and communications protocols. AHCA engaged MHP/Team SI to begin working on a crisis communications strategy. Fortunately for Arkansas, the first COVID-19 positive case did not occur in a long-term care facility until March 2020.
Evaluation:
There has been no shortage of challenges dealing with COVID-19. It has been a continuous struggle to prevent the spread of misinformation, including among media outlets. Human error, combined with a fluid and rapidly changing environment present constant daily challenges. Due to our proactive communications efforts with families and employees, oftentimes when family members are contacted by the media, relatives provide positive feedback on how the facility is handling COVID-19 and emphasize that their loved ones are receiving the highest-quality of care.
Additionally, our proactive media efforts forged long-lasting media relationships. Because of our approach, the media have come to call on AHCA and MHP/Team SI for all long-term care facility information. We have created an open and transparent relationship with media that has helped mitigate negative news coverage.
MHP/Team SI used research regarding litter prevalence issues to create a TraDigital™ omnichannel marketing approach for Keep Arkansas Beautiful that educated and engaged audiences, particularly in community-wide litter-pickup events. We devised an integrated communications plan to increase the number of events and volunteers, along with other key performance indicators (KPIs), for KAB’s two annual litter campaigns.
Our client partner, the University of Arkansas System Criminal Justice Institute, joined a multi-agency, multi-partner, grant-funded effort to begin reducing opioid deaths.
MHP/Team SI created a TraDigital™ omnichannel marketing plan that helped CJI focus on increasing health literacy, addressing prescription drug- and opioid-misuse disorders, and promoting the importance of calling 911 in the event of an overdose with the “Don’t Run. Call 911” campaign.
The MHP/Team SI public relations firm proactively created fresh ideas and opportunities for earned media about the Arkansas Food Hall of Fame, a program of Arkansas Heritage, including an annual media event around the announcement of the program’s finalists. The event continues to gain momentum each year.
