Consistent Messages Increase Public Awareness of PM&R
Public Awareness Campaign components:
In Brief: Raising awareness of the specialty is one of the
Academy’s highest priorities. To that end, the Public and Professional Awareness
Committee has developed a new communications strategy. The new public awareness
campaign calls upon individual members to work at the grassroots level to
support the Academy in educating patients about the nature of PM&R.
As mentioned in December 2006/January 2007’s President’s Column of the
Physiatrist, many Academy members continue
to be asked, “What kind of doctor are you?” and “What is it that you do?”
Because Academy members answer that question in a variety of ways, even calling
themselves by different names, the AAPM&R Public and Professional Awareness (PPA)
Committee (formerly the Marketing Committee) set out to develop one consistent
message that both the Academy and members can use to educate the public.
As the Academy’s own consumer research proved last year, only 3 percent of the
public knows what a physiatrist is and what a physiatrist does. Working with a
marketing and public relations consultant, the PPA Committee decided that the
next public relations initiative should be simple and straightforward. The goal
is to develop and employ consistent messages to help patients more clearly
understand the nature and purposes of physiatry.
Several Academy members from a variety of practice backgrounds met at the
Academy office for a facilitated “think tank” meeting that resulted in the
creation of one concise, inclusive description of the specialty.
The group reviewed the various “titles” currently used to label PM&R physicians
– including “physiatrist” and “PM&R physician” – to decide what one term to use
consistently. The term “rehabilitation physician” was selected by everyone as
the most descriptive, inclusive, and easiest to understand (and pronounce) term
to use with the public.
These members then worked to create a definition of the specialty to use with
public audiences. They agreed on the following:
Rehabilitation physicians are nerve, muscle, bone, and brain experts who
diagnose and treat injury or illness nonsurgically to decrease pain and restore
function.
In a subsequent survey of AAPM&R members (August 2006), a majority of
respondents indicated they refer to themselves as “rehabilitation physicians”
when asked to describe what they do to an acquaintance.
The “think tank” also drafted supporting messages that could be easily be
incorporated into descriptions or messages referencing the specialty:
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We diagnose and treat pain, without surgery, to keep people as active as
possible for as long as possible
-
Our broad expertise enables us to treat a range of illnesses and injuries
throughout a person’s lifetime
-
We care for our patients’ ailments and explain treatments they can do for
themselves and with medical specialists.
The PPA Committee and the Academy Board were presented with the group’s
conclusions and approved the message strategy and related public relations
activities.
In late November, the Academy distributed a story over PR Newswire to 14,000
online media sources that announced "Who May Qualify as Medicine’s Best-Kept
Secret? It’s the Multi-Skilled Rehabilitation Physician." Two weeks later, a
“rip-and-read” radio script was
distributed to radio stations across the country announcing the same message.
Another important step is having members adopt and use this common definition
when talking with friends, family members, patients, neighbors and others (click
to read
story here).
The PPA Committee is interested in hearing member feedback on these messages,
especially individual experiences and “success stories” related to building
public awareness about the specialty. Please feel free to share your comments
with Joanne Constantine at the Academy office at
jconstantine@aapmr.org.
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