Parent Awareness Campaign

A risk factor is a variable associated with an increased risk of disease, mental health challenges, academic delays, developmental delays, poor relationships or boundary-setting, etc.

This should address a specific risk factor, clearly explain why it is a risk factor, and offer quick guidance on how to combat it/overcome it, move the needle forward to decrease the risk, or where to go for support and resources. Think of empowering them with information and actionable steps!

● You will have the option to be creative by creating an awareness campaign via:

○ An ad that can go on buses, freeway signs, benches ○ A Tik-Tok video or set of Instagram slides ○ A YouTube or facebook video where you share PowerPoint slides

or get creative with how you visually demonstrate the material (don’t just record yourself talking).

○ An interactive webpage or PDF (with working links) ● If you have the consent of others, they may also appear in your campaign but

you have to do the work of coming up with the content, script, editing, etc. ● In true form, campaigns are meant to be disseminated widely, captivating so

that they get your message across quickly, easily shareable and accessible. ● This is a useful exercise because social media and technology play an

important role in reaching parents and children/adolescents – especially now that COVID-19 has pushed the need for virtual communication and has increased isolation for many.

In a document include:

1. Target population. Be Specific! ○ What group of parents are you targeting? Some things to

consider: ○ The age of their children. Do you want to

target parents with teens, infants, middle schoolers, etc

○ The geographic area that they live in. Do you want to target parents who live in an area with high levels of air pollution or pesticides? Or parents with little access to non-processed foods?

○ The social climate and context. Are you targeting parents in a school district with depleting funds/resources? Or parents whose

kids may be experiencing heightened levels of discrimination due to socio-political discourse?

○ Physical (dis)abilities. Do you want to reach parents of children with a specific physical need or health challenge (e.g., hard of hearing, blind, wheelchair-bound)?

○ Health issues. Do you want to reach parents with a specific health issue (e.g., diabetes, asthma, cancer)?

○ Family structure. Do you want to target separated/divorced co-parenting parents? Or military families who travel often or go long periods without seeing one parent? Incarcerated parents or the parent who is not incarcerated but whose partner is? Parents living in multigenerational homes?

○ Other ideas: Recent immigrant parents who are not fluent in English? Young teen parents, who have been kicked out? Parents in college?

2. The risk factor your campaign is addressing. Be Specific, go beyond saying poverty!

○ For example: ○ Having low access to libraries, educational

materials for the home, or to enrichment activities outside the home

○ Living in food deserts or living near freeways or factories

○ Social isolation or poor relational (community, school, or family) support

○ Decreased access to mental health services or academic counseling

3. What does this risk factor increase the chances of? Be thorough and detailed in explaining how/why it increases the risk of certain outcomes.

○ The risk of falling behind academically (e.g., the number of vocabulary words a child knows – example: NYC Read The City)

○ The risk of health-related challenges (e.g., malnutrition, asthma)

○ The risk of drug use, early sexual activity, gang membership, increased displays of anger or frustration, etc

○ The risk of heightened anxiety, depression, poor or lacking goal setting, poor daily routines, etc

4. How can parents positively intervene, make social or environmental changes, adjust home life or communication approaches, be advocates for their children, locate and access resources, etc to remove the risk factor or create buffers to decrease the chances of the risk factor from leading to negative outcomes or experiences.

○ Empower them! ○ Avoid placing blame on the parents and avoid using

deficit-based language ○ Provide specific actionable steps

5. What strategy would you use to disseminate the campaign and raise awareness?

○ What organizations would you partner with if any? Why or why not?

○ What media outlets, platforms, or physical spaces would you use to showcase the campaign material? Why?

○ How long would the campaign run for? Are you choosing to run it in a particular month, week, or season? Why?

6. References ○ Minimum of 3 citations in APA format at the end ○ Also…use in-text citations in the word doc but no need to

include them in your actual awareness campaign material

○ Your references can be peer-reviewed journal articles, policy briefs, or brief reports

* Attach your actual campaign material either as an embedded link within the document, an image posted at the end of the document, or as a separate document. Whichever works best for your content.

*Your visual should be clear and captivating. You do not need to have everything you write out in the document above written or displayed in your actual visual. However, your campaign material should truly be in alignment with what you described in the document. Think about what your message is and what you want to promote and avoid highlighting what you don’t want parents to do or say (instead focus on what they can do or say to buffer against the risk factor being addressed).