Take the Lead: Raising Awareness of Pandemic Flu

AIR supported CDC’s Take the Lead: Working Together to Prepare Now campaign, designed to mobilize local leaders—such as health care providers, employers and faith-based and civic leaders—to raise awareness of pandemic flu and encourage the community to prepare and respond to flu outbreaks.

AIR worked with eight diverse communities around the country in 2009 and 2010 to mobilize local leaders and community-based organizations to help their communities prepare to respond to flu outbreaks (including 2009 H1N1). AIR facilitated the development of a community coalition at each campaign site, led by local health departments, to implement the campaign. These coalitions focused on developing partnerships with multiple sectors, targeting hard-to-reach populations and testing the use of social media for partner engagement.

AIR developed a toolkit for coalitions to use (including posters, fact sheets, an implementation guide and a social media guide) and assisted the coalitions in planning and conducting communication activities related to the campaign. We also conducted an extensive evaluation of the campaign to identify successful processes and ideas that could be used for future influenza-related mobilization and communication efforts.