Promoting Dry January Successfully

Taking the opportunity to educate patients on the merits of a Dry January is a great way to start discussions about the impact of alcohol on health. In order to do so, however, you’ll need to raise a patient’s awareness of the concept.

Simply discussing the merits of a teetotal lifestyle can sometimes cause a patient’s eyes to glaze over. It’s no secret that regular alcohol consumption can impact upon our health. Repeating the risks of alcohol can be misinterpreted as preaching by a stubborn patient. At worst, a patient may grow defensive at perceived insinuations that they have a problem.

By promoting Dry January in a marketing campaign, you can help patients to wrap their heads around the idea. If alcohol is a regular feature of somebody’s life, they may find the idea of suddenly ceasing all drinking intimidating. Having a plan in place means less intimidation.

Poster and Literature Campaigns

One thing that often occurs in GP surgeries or hospitals is waiting. Patients will arrive early for an appointment to ensure they do not miss their slot. This means that they’ll need to keep themselves entertained, if only to take their mind off the reason for their visit.

Poster campaigns that advertise and discuss the concept of a Dry January are often a winner. Bring in the talents of a skilled graphic designer to ensure an eye-catching visual that grabs the attention. You can then couple this with a small amount of text information.

Just talk in broad strokes about the benefits of going teetotal for 31 days, you patient is more likely to have a clear thought process than if they are blinded with science. Make it clear that GPs and locums are available to discuss the subject if a patient has questions or concerns. A patient may also want to discuss Dry January during an appointment related to a different ailment.

Leaflets and pamphlets are a natural progression from posters. If the poster has done its job, patients will be intrigued by the idea of Dry January. You can use the space provided by a small leaflet to discuss the benefits in more detail, including advice and tips on how to successfully navigate a month of uninterrupted sobriety.

Direct Communications

When patients register with your surgery, they will furnish you with contact information such as email addresses and mobile phone numbers.

Obviously, these details are typically used only for medical communications, such as confirming appointments and test results. You could use them for promotional campaigns too, such as raising awareness of Dry January ahead of time.

Don’t be a pest with this. Bombarding a patient with communications is a betrayal of trust. You’ll also need to ensure that you do not fall foul of GDPR laws and regulations. You will not be restricted by word counts though, and you can reach people that would not otherwise attend a GP surgery or hospital.

Best of all, text and email communications are free of charge. You will not need to bring in any specialist assistance, unless you need help with the writing of the messages. This can be a cost-effective way of putting the idea of Dry January into the mind of patients, making it clear that you’re available to help if needed.

Social Media

We live in a digital age, and most people are glued to their smartphones throughout the course of the day. You can use this to promote and advertise the merits of a Dry January.

Post images and information surrounding the idea on your own social media profiles. Any patients that follow you for updates will automatically see these. Given enough time, the information will penetrate the psyche of the reader.

Social media also affords you the opportunity to interact directly with users, answering any questions they may have. This will potentially cut down on face-to-face appointments, saving time for all parties. Locum doctors can do a lot, but sadly creating extra time in the day is not among these skills.

Some surgeries throughout the UK will have an information evening at a local venue or at the surgery (depending on its size). These are very valuable for all types of lifestyle medical problems and are generally run by a Head Nurse, one of the GP’s in the local area, or by an NHS expert. This way, the attendees don’t feel they have been singled out, and most importantly, are more likely to want to talk if they feel they have a problem. You can advertise such events by any legal means and for any campaign that your surgery wants to run.

If you need extra support during the busy January period, register with AppLocum to find highly-skilled locums.