Results And Measurements

Trends Over Five Years

Five years ago, when the champions award was launched, securing feature stories about the champions award honorees or even a simple announcement of the award was a challenge. Media covered the challenges facing California’s health care workforce with stories about the nursing shortage and weren’t making the link to cultural competency, disparities in health outcomes, or other issues underlying the champions award.

In 2003, there was some interest generated because the award was new. In 2004, without the “newness” factor, coverage dipped. By the third year, however, the effort began to gain increased traction in the media. In part, this was a result of increased attention and awareness of health care workforce issues among policymakers, opinion leaders and, hence, general market media. The story also began to resonate with ethnic media, beyond simply reporting on an award presented to “one of us.”

But another significant factor was that the communications team was becoming more sophisticated with its messaging: learning how to steer away from the highly polarized affirmative action debate and doing a better job of linking the honorees’ work with diverse policy issues, e.g., recruitment and retention of underrepresented minority students in training programs or utilization of financial aid resources.

We were also learning from many of the Foundation’s grantees. In 2005, for example, the California Budget Project, an organization that conducts research and analysis to document the impact of state funding decisions on underserved communities, published a report that succinctly stated three key demographic trends facing the state: the population is growing rapidly, it is aging, and it is becoming increasingly diverse. By incorporating these themes into the champions messages, the need to build a large, culturally competent health care workforce is portrayed as critical for all Californians, not simply as issues facing communities of color.

As a result, in the last three years, placements have been secured in leading general market print outlets (Sacramento Bee, San Francisco Chronicle) and prime ethnic media publications (two major Spanish-language dailies, La Opinión and Hoy; Univision television affiliates; leading Asian media publications such as Sing Tao; and African-American-focused newspapers including the Precinct Reporter, California Crusader and L.A. Watts Times.) Dozens of pieces have appeared in local community papers where honorees live or work. The year 2007 also saw a growth in coverage by various health-sector trade publications.

I received press inquiries, special letters from city council members and the Los Angeles County board of supervisors congratulating me for work in diversity. I was put on a statewide committee that’s still meeting on increasing diversity in leadership. Also, I’m on a national committee of health care leadership that incorporates senior executives as well as middle managers.

— Dr. Linda Burnes-Bolton, ’03 champions award honoree

Some Challenges Remain

For a communications plan that intends to inform California policymakers, the absence of the Los Angeles Times among the paid and earned media strategy looms large. Achieving that story placement remains elusive. Continuing turmoil in the newspaper industry has resulted in newsroom cutbacks, and in the area of health there has been an increase in consumer-focused pieces at the expense of health policy reporting. Nonetheless, we were encouraged this year when the paper’s labor beat reporter interviewed TCWF’s program director overseeing diversity in the health professions grantmaking for a story on health care workforce issues that appeared the same week as the awards were presented. In terms of paid media, the cost of a print ad in the Times is prohibitive. We previously purchased online ads, but the level of traffic it generated at our website newsroom was minimal.

“The materials were very helpful. Our PR [public relations] department used them as templates that were subsequently picked up by nursing journals and the American Hospital Association.”

— Dr. Linda Burnes-Bolton, ’03 champions award honoree

Impact of a Public Education Campaign

In 2006, the profile of TCWF’s health care workforce diversity efforts grew significantly with the launch of a multimillion-dollar, grant-funded public education campaign designed to raise awareness of the issue among decision-makers and opinion leaders and to target underrepresented minority youth with information about health career opportunities in California through a one-stop website, www.MakeItInScrubs.com. Whenever the campaign undertakes policymaker information activities, the two efforts converge somewhat, requiring a deeper level of coordination among the program director, communications officer and campaign grantee (e.g., sharing ad buy schedules). Management of each project remains independent, however, as staff remains mindful of how the two are funded differently: The champions award communications outreach is not grant funded – and thus completely driven by the Foundation. The public education campaign is funded through a grant and created by the grantee – but bearing the Foundation’s name and imprimatur(6).

It is also worth noting that apart from the champions award communications work and the Foundation’s public education campaign, media coverage of the issue has expanded significantly in the last couple of years, in large part by the efforts of TCWF-funded organizations that have incorporated media relations into their work plans. Keeping this story in the media eye throughout the year no doubt eases our work, as we’re not “starting at zero” again each June.

For the champions award honorees, the media presence has paid off tremendously in ways that strengthen their work. Some have been asked to work with elected officials on their workforce diversity efforts through panels or commissions or testifying at informational hearings. Others have seen the public and leaders pay more attention to or support the organizations they have founded. For example, in May 2007, the Assembly Health Committee held an informational hearing on health care workforce shortages. Katherine Flores, M.D., a 2004 champions award honoree, was one of the experts called upon by the committee to offer testimony.

The recognition has also led honorees to experience a renewed or rejuvenated commitment to their work. These outcomes help us gauge the effectiveness of our communications efforts and go beyond tracking “gross impressions” for ads, counting news media placements and monitoring website hits.

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