A Community-Based Social Marketing Strategy to Prevent HIV and Fight Stigma

Abstract

There is evidence that Public Service Announcements are a crucial tool in reducing stigma and call for people to overtly seek help for their illnesses (Corrigan, Powell, Al-Khouja, 2015). In this frame, the study analyses the elements that must be present in a campaign to prevent HIV and the stigma of HIV + people, in order to redefine the essential elements in the search for effectiveness and efficiency. This campaign created for the city of Turin (Italy) represents a useful example to analyse the different phases and desired outcomes of a communication campaign. To our knowledge, this is the first European study to use data collected during a community-based activity on HIV / AIDS testing in order to build an effective communication campaign. The analysis was conducted on both quantitative and qualitative aspects of the campaign. To conduct the analysis, the literature on social marketing is analyzed in association with epidemiological and economic elements. A campaign based on community-based elements with the involvement of non-profit organizations leads to positive and innovative effects both in terms of communication and realization and relapses according to the process defined by the social marketing strategy. The statistical analysis shows a relationship between those who take the rapid test at the non-profit organization and the HIV test for the first time, demonstrating the effectiveness of the prevention campaign in the population that does not belong to the health system.