 |
| Tulane public health researcher Christopher Beaudoin and his colleagues are hoping a radio advertising campaign will spread the word about health and safety issues as residents clean up after Hurricane Katrina. (Photo by Rick Olivier) |
A new ad campaign hit the waves of local radio in mid-June. Its target: New Orleans' African-American population. Its message: health and safety during hurricane season.
Tulane University public health researcher Christopher Beaudoin and colleagues launched the radio advertising campaign, which will air five times each weekday on Q93-FM, WYLD-FM 98, Hallelujah 104.1 FM and WYLD 940 AM throughout hurricane season.
The campaign consists of a series of brief suggestions for dealing with some of the most pressing health and safety issues confronting New Orleanians as they clean up and rebuild following Hurricane Katrina. These issues include stress and depression, as well as ongoing health and safety problems related to household cleanup and reconstruction.
"It seems clear that one element in helping individuals along the road to recovery is to provide them with more and better-quality information," says Beaudoin, assistant professor of community health sciences. "For example, we are aware of people gutting houses wearing only surgical masks or bandanas. Our ads remind people to use an N95 breathing mask to protect their health."
The project is funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The project team interviewed 500 residents prior to developing the campaign and will interview 1,000 more during and after the campaign to assess the impact of the messages.
