We chose to use a campaign methodology, which proved extremely successful for rolling out the interventions across the diverse range of maternity units which participated in our programme.
What is a campaign?
A campaign is an overarching strategy to communicate changes, influence staff to adopt the changes, receive feedback, modify, and celebrate successes.
Campaigns create the conditions for others to achieve a shared purpose, they are dynamic, participatory and organised. Campaigns facilitate trust, motivation and commitment. They are as much about interpersonal relationships that link individuals, networks and organisations than they are about formal structures. The greatest test is in translating the purpose into action and outcomes. They unfold over time with a rhythm that slowly builds foundation, and gathers gradual momentum.
Top tips for launching a campaign:
- Build your campaign team – including enthusiastic colleagues and shop floor champions
- Use a social movement approach to mobilisation – inspire, role model, nudge people to want to do the changes. Build a shared purpose
- Raise awareness and get people interested in the campaign and interventions. Involve the wider multi-disciplinary team in implementation
- Finalise the objectives and measures for each intervention idea. See example questionnaires in the toolkit
- Broaden out and interest in making those changes – make it easy, accessible, simple and timely (EAST). Use visual prompts, posters, reminders, logos
- Think about how to keep the team motivated over time. Build in incentives, cakes, and positive feedback
Creating a communication plan
- Create a name for your campaign
- Include a strapline – rule of 3 – repeated at least 6 times
- Create a throughline of the key aims (ours was: Helping maternity units to build the right culture, behaviours and conditions that enable effective clinical escalation)
- Create a high level summary of key aims and activities
- Create a list of key messages to be repeated throughout