A Cross-Sectional Study of Acceptability and Influence of HEALing Communities Study Communications Campaign Messaging Among Community Members in Four U.S. States

PurposeUnderstanding reactions to health communication campaigns is essential to designing effective messaging. Multi-year campaigns through The Helping to End Addiction Long-term^® Initiative (HEALing) Communities Study (HCS) were implemented from April 2020 - June 2022. Responses to HCS campaign messages and statewide campaign messages were evaluated.DesignCross-sectional, self-reported surveys of different respondents at 3 timepoints.SettingN = 33 communities across Kentucky, Ohio, Massachusetts, and New York.SubjectsN = 2368 respondents recruited from Facebook/Instagram.MeasuresMessage acceptability survey items assessed attention, understandability, and visuals/text match. Message influence items assessed whether the message made the respondent want to carry naloxone, learn more about medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD), or seek help for OUD. Items were scaled from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree).AnalysisAll outcomes were analyzed using linear mixed models adjusted for community as a random effect.ResultsAmong naloxone campaigns, HCS message acceptability was higher than statewide messages (3.98, 95% CI = 3.94-4.02 vs 3.93, 95% CI = 3.89-3.97, <i>P</i> = 0.002). HCS message influence was also higher than those of statewide messages (3.44, 95% CI = 3.38-3.50 vs 3.40, 95% CI = 3.34-3.46, <i>P</i> = 0.034). Among HCS campaigns, naloxone messaging had the highest acceptability (3.96, 95% CI = 3.92-4.00), followed by MOUD stigma (3.73, 95% CI = 3.70-3.77) and MOUD awareness (3.71, 95% CI = 3.68-3.75, <i>P</i> < 0.001). The HCS naloxone campaign was also highest rated in terms of influence (3.47, 95% CI = 3.43-3.51, <i>P</i> < 0.001).ConclusionThis analysis provides insight into acceptability and potential influence of locally-tailored, opioid-related health campaign messaging.This work was performed under the HEALing Communities Study, ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT04111939, https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT04111939.