Initial Post
“Social marketing is the concept that was created by Philip Kotler in the 1970s” (Aras, 2011, p.417). The main distinctive feature of social marketing is the focus on not only the profits and return on the advertising campaign but on the social well-being as well. The concept of social marketing was employed in various spheres including healthcare. The initiative was undertaken by the Turning Point Social Marketing National Excellence Collaborative, the organization financed by Robert Wood Foundation. There are six steps in social marketing. They are the description of the problem, conducting market research, creation of the marketing strategy, planning of the intervention, planning of the program monitoring and evaluation, and implementation of the interventions and evaluation (Aras, 2010).
In my opinion, the concepts of social marketing can be used in the instance described in Case 16. Taking into account that the Lewis family intends to promote the legislative change via the political process, the social marketing campaign can attract people’s attention to the problem and find the supporters. The effective social marketing strategy can help to implement the changes in the legislation and to prevent fatal outcomes after surgical operation.
Response Posts
To Kathleen Blain-Hyppolite
Hi, Kathleen,
Thank you for your response. You say that social marketing is used to promote healthy behavior. I also think so but I guess it should be added that it is not only able to promote health behavior but also to encourage the business to be socially responsible and not to produce products, which are harmful to health. Interestingly, social marketing is the concept, which has been drawn from the commercial sector but it is not the commercial concept anymore. The scholars argue that health care organizations should make people aware of the importance of a healthy way of life and social marketing is the tool for the achievement of this goal. It seems that social marketing is aimed at the prevention of health problems. I think that it is better to make efforts to prevent than to cope with them later. Besides, I guess social marketing can improve the efficiency of quality improvement programs in health care.
To Amanda Estillore
Hi, Amanda,
Thank you for your post. I think you have managed to uncover the essence of social marketing and to show the link between its targets and healthcare problems. I agree with you that social marketing is a concept, which is integrated with many other sciences. It uses commercial marketing methods for the achievement of social well-being. I guess it is already adaptable to the health care needs. The instruments and methods of social marketing can be used to make people aware of the importance of a healthy way of life. They can contribute to the prevention of health problems. I am not sure that the operating-room procedures are the primary object of the social marketing influence in health care. Rather, the minds of people and their attitude to their health are its most important targets. I agree with you that the development and implementation of the checklist of things are important for the prevention of surgical errors.
Reference
Aras, R. (2011). Social marketing in healthcare. Australasian Medical Journal, 4(8), 418-424.