SUBSTANCE ABUSE AND MENTAL HEALTH
SERVICES ADMINISTRATION (SAMHSA)

One of SAMHSA’s major initiatives is National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month.  The special observance seeks to inspire all levels of government, business and society to work toward enhancing drug and alcohol treatment programs.  It also provides a focal point to recognize everyday heroes who have sought help and are in recovery.

In 2004, Goodwill Communications worked with SAMHSA’s public relations agency, Edelman, Inc., to distribute a multi-media PSA campaign with the theme, “Join the Voices for Recovery:  Celebrating Health.” The theme underscores the role everyone plays in the recovery process, and emphasizes the united front that must be presented to encourage individuals with alcohol and drug problems to seek help and remain in recovery. 

The PSAs aim to reduce the misrepresentation and stigma faced by those who are in treatment or recovery face every day for the rest of their lives.  The PSAs put an everyday face on addiction and recovery, and offer the SAMHSA National Helpline (1-800-662-HELP) as a requested action to call if the viewer or someone they know is in need of treatment. 

The 2004 PSAs were titled "Boat," which demonstrates that all people who suffer from alcohol and drug use disorders are "in the same boat" and that treatment helps them to reach solid ground, and "Tony" which illustrates how getting help through treatment can enable a person to help others, thereby multiplying the effect of one person's treatment. All PSAs were produced in English and Spanish.

Television PSAs

The 2004 television spots were distributed to 1,200 English and Spanish broadcast TV stations, to 500 cable stations via Goodwill’s proprietary cable distribution called CablePAK and to 40 English and Spanish networks.   ThePSAs  also received play as part of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy's (ONDCP) Media Match Campaign.

In terms of packaging, colorful labels were created for application to each of the different tape formats and to corrugated boxes used to house the video tapes sent to stations.   A four-color storyboard was produced highlighting visuals from the English and Spanish PSAs along with a fact sheet on the issue.  A feature story was also prepared which appeared in CablePAK News as shown here.

Open ended spots were also created for customization to allow local television stations and community groups to personalize the PSAs with their logo, slogan, or telephone number at the end of the PSA. These spots were available via SAMHSA's National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information (NCADI).

Radio PSAs

The 2004 radio spots, “Boat” and “Tony,” were produced in English and Spanish in 15-second and 30-second lengths and were distributed to 3,500 radio stations nationwide. We used unique packaging concept called DiskPac for packaging the SAMHSA radio PSAs which is comprised of a hard cover plastic case, a script booklet, evaluation BRC and a CD with recorded spots.

Evaluation

From June through December 2004, the broadcast and cable TV PSAs aired 38,728 times on 286 outlets reaching 250 cities in 47 states, and generated 78,671,626 viewer impressions.

For the same period, the radio spots were broadcast 61,655 times on 354 outlets reaching 213 cities in 47 states, resulting in 4,775,759 in listener impressions.  The combined value of all PSAs was $4,837,996.

Other campaign components include the production of 75,000 kits and 10,000 posters, designed for use by community-based organizations, government entities, and national treatment organizations. It was used as a tool to educate the public about substance abuse as a national health crisis, to reinforce the fact that addiction is a treatable disease, and recovery is possible.  The kit provides resources to spread the word that those suffering from addiction can be helped through treatment.   In addition, the kit is geared to show that greater local resources, health insurance coverage and employer support will result in less crime, more productive schools and workplaces, earlier intervention, and savings to the health care system. The Recovery Month celebration also hosts an interactive website, at www.recoverymonth.gov .