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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
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- Q. What is the Decade of Health?
- A. The Decade of Health is a ten-year strategic deployability and readiness marketing campaign supporting personal responsibility for health and wellness. The Army National Guard is launching an intense, focused media strategy targeted at Soldiers and their Families that will promote readiness and enhance strength management. The objectives are best reflected in the Decade of Health Campaign tag line, "Always Ready, Always there…Always Healthy.
- Q. Why the Decade of Health?
- A. Maintaining force strength and sustaining critical operations rely heavily on healthy, fit Soldiers. The ARNG has implemented Soldier health and wellness programs in the past, but they took a "broad-brush approach rather than focusing on a single deployment and readiness issue at a time. The Decade of Health will leverage existing programs and will target a specific concern each year and provide an intensive outreach to bring home the message and produce measurable results.
- Q. What is the target audience?
- A. Army National Guard Soldiers and their Families.
- Q. How will the Decade of Health reach the target audience?
- A. Traditional outreach methods have not been effective in reaching the ARNG Soldier. The Decade of Health communications plan includes a multi-media, guerilla marketing approach that maximizes funding to support the deployability and readiness objectives of the campaign. This plan will use a nontraditional approach to reach traditional ARNG Soldiers and Families.
- Q. What is guerilla marketing and how will this approach be implemented?
- A. Guerilla marketing is the term used to describe an intense, targeted outreach to a specific audience. Market research will drive a communications plan that uses commercial techniques and places funding to maximize outcomes and return on investment. Tools will include web-based resources, Soldier-direct mail, print and broadcast advertising, public service announcements, and partnerships to proliferate and saturate the audience.
- Q. What kind of partnerships will be established through the Decade of Health?
- A. The first level of partnership will be with internal National Guard Bureau (NGB) programs, such as Family Groups, Well-Being, and Strength Management with close coordination with the NGB Public Affairs Office. The plan calls for partnerships with Federal, State and local health and wellness initiatives such as Healthy People 2010, HealthierUS, and the President's Fitness Challenge. The ARNG announced a strategic alliance with the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association (AHA/ASA) on January 25, 2007 in Arlington, Virginia. This alliance leverages and expands the world-wide recognition of the scientific and educational mission of the American Heart Association, and propels the Army National Guard into a major role in America's health promotion and disease prevention movement. Click here to read the press release.
- Q. Who will sponsor and manage the Decade of Health Campaign?
- A. The ARNG Chief Surgeon's office will fund and manage the effort.
- Q. When will the Decade of Health Campaign be launched?
- A. The overall campaign launch will take place in August 2006. The first year of the Decade of Health, ARNG Dental Readiness and Oral Health outreach is currently being executed and will be enhanced during the remainder of 2006. The 2007 campaign health topic will be blood pressure.
- Q. Why was oral health selected for the first focus area?
- A. Dental readiness is a huge problem for the Reserve Components; therefore oral health education and prevention was selected to enhance readiness and deployability.
- Q. Why is blood pressure the next Decade of Health focus area?
- A. A determination was made that high blood pressure in Soldiers is a significant issue among Guard Soldiers and that it can be stabilized by education and medication, making this an immediate opportunity for positively impacting readiness and mobilization.
- Q. Why isn't the Decade of Health featuring a focus on mental health and stress?
- A. The ARNG is very concerned about mental health and stress. Much mental health awareness information and education exists as part of larger Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) program, the Post-Deployment Health Reassessment (PDHRA) program. The Decade of Health will address mental health and stress as a focused campaign in the future and will offer links to and leverage the information in these OSD programs and resources.
- Q. How will outcomes and return on investment be measured?
- A. The Decade of Health strategic plan includes a specific task to establish baseline data, gather statistical input, monitor results, and provide an annual report for each year's health focus topic and the overall effectiveness of the Decade of Health campaign. A team has been established by the ARNG Chief Surgeon's office to support this task. Improved Soldier deployability and readiness will be the return on investment to the ARNG.
- Q. How will the annual themes and the health information and resources be available to ARNG Soldiers and Families?
- A. Strategic planning, design and development is currently underway and a web page was launched at www.decadeofhealth.com on 1 May 06. It highlights the campaign objectives and provides health and wellness information through links to the ARNG's HITS and HOOAH 4 HEALTH web sites and in partnership with the NGB's public web site. The entire communications plan will include a downloadable, printable information package, Soldier-direct mail, broadcast and print advertising, public service announcements, and an incentives program.
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